{"id":206,"date":"2026-07-21T17:09:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T17:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206"},"modified":"2026-07-21T17:09:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T17:09:02","slug":"julio-foolio-unions-and-sweat-equity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206","title":{"rendered":"Julio Foolio, Unions and \u201cSweat Equity\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n

In June 2024<\/span>, Florida-based rapper Julio Foolio was gunned down and killed outside a\u00a0hotel in Tampa. A\u00a0prominent artist in the drill scene, his death, and the trial that followed, sparked more than surface-level debate online about the use of digital technology, violence imbued in this music, and the role of artificial intelligence and social media algorithms in\u00a0murder.<\/p>\n

Read more Nowhere to Go: Inside the Texas Boarding Home System Where Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation are Widespread<\/a><\/p>\n

However, this story, like many stories of carceral punishment, comes down to labor, revealing how incarceration and labor have long been\u00a0intertwined.<\/p>\n

In the end, one woman and four men, all between the ages of 18<\/span> and 30<\/span> at the time of the shooting, were convicted and Alicia Andrews was sentenced to 15<\/span>\u00a0years in prison, while the four men faced capital punishment or life without\u00a0parole.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

During sentencing, defense attorneys argued against the death penalty. But then, so did Raul Banasco, a\u00a0former warden and jail administrator from Texas, but for vastly different\u00a0reasons.<\/p>\n

Banasco argued against the death penalty\u2009\u2014\u2009not from a\u00a0place of progressive or liberal ideology, but rather to advocate for what he called \u200b\u201c<\/span>sweat\u00a0equity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>[Sean Gathright] is someone that is young, he is healthy, and [the] reality, we need that labor, we need that sweat equity, and we will put him out there to work because we do have an aging prison population, jail administration, we have that,\u201d Banasco said. \u200b\u201c<\/span>So we put these young individuals to work and get some sweat equity out of them, since they are young and actually can do the\u00a0work.\u201d<\/p>\n

For decades, the term \u200b\u201c<\/span>prison industrial complex\u201d has been used to refer to the exploitation and extraction of labor from people incarcerated. In recent years, states, and other countries, have come under increased scrutiny for using incarcerated labor to put out wildfires, create PPE during the Covid-19<\/span> pandemic, and general prison\u00a0maintenance.<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0previous column for In These Times<\/em>, \u200b\u201c<\/span>Putting Reentry Out of Business,\u201d I\u00a0argued that unions must think beyond reforms and consider abolition, and the case of Julio Foolio also shows us how critical it is for unions to play a\u00a0central and aggressive role in inhibiting prison labor\u00a0practices.<\/p>\n

Read more The Possibilities of Grief as a Rupture<\/a><\/p>\n

There are a\u00a0few things that unions can do right away to have an impact. First, outright condemn prison labor as unethical and underscore that they contradict the very notion of labor\u00a0laws.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Second, unions can support prison workers on the inside by setting up locals within state facilities, which would equip those prison workers with structures and tools to fight for a\u00a0minimum wage, set work hours, protections, and safety regulations surrounding types of work, and collective\u00a0bargaining.<\/p>\n

Third, unions can support prison workers on the outside by refusing to reproduce the carceral state. This includes refusing contracts with departments of corrections and actions such as stopping deliveries or other services. This works best if it\u2019s operating as mutual solidarity. This means that if imprisoned labor goes on strike, free labor also goes on strike, and vice\u00a0versa.<\/p>\n

Finally, unions can play a\u00a0crucial role in the reentry process of supporting individuals returning to society to find jobs, earn skills, and protect their\u00a0rights.<\/p>\n

We must continue to address the root causes of harm, pain, and violence to quell the types of actions and dynamics we saw out of the Julio Foolio case. But we must also condemn and counter the actions of state violence that reproduce cruelty, exploitation, and extreme forms of\u00a0punishment.<\/p>\n

Abolition is not without public safety. Abolition provides toolkits to think about harm, our responsibilities to stop harm, and our responses to harm when\u00a0inflicted.<\/p>\n

And the first step toward an abolitionist strategy is through collective efforts and unions provide that\u00a0base.<\/p>\n

Read more The People Fighting Back: Inside Maine\u2019s Immigrant Defense Movement<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How incarceration and labor are bound together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-labor","category-viewpoint"],"yoast_head":"\nJulio Foolio, Unions and \u201cSweat Equity\u201d - Summit Relocation Timess<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Julio Foolio, Unions and \u201cSweat Equity\u201d - Summit Relocation Timess\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How incarceration and labor are bound together.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Summit Relocation Timess\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T17:09:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=206#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=206\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78261b7043eb436872da19e7c8eda597\"},\"headline\":\"Julio Foolio, Unions and \u201cSweat Equity\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T17:09:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=206\"},\"wordCount\":654,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=206#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/243941ed09fb50e4e552e6742b6a4eaa.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Labor\",\"Viewpoint\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=206#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=206\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=206\",\"name\":\"Julio Foolio, Unions and \u201cSweat Equity\u201d - Summit Relocation Timess\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=206#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=206#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/243941ed09fb50e4e552e6742b6a4eaa.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T17:09:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78261b7043eb436872da19e7c8eda597\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=206#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=206\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=206#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/243941ed09fb50e4e552e6742b6a4eaa.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/243941ed09fb50e4e552e6742b6a4eaa.jpeg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=206#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Julio Foolio, Unions and \u201cSweat Equity\u201d\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Summit Relocation Timess\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78261b7043eb436872da19e7c8eda597\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Julio Foolio, Unions and \u201cSweat Equity\u201d - Summit Relocation Timess","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Julio Foolio, Unions and \u201cSweat Equity\u201d - Summit Relocation Timess","og_description":"How incarceration and labor are bound together.","og_url":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206","og_site_name":"Summit Relocation Timess","article_published_time":"2026-07-21T17:09:02+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78261b7043eb436872da19e7c8eda597"},"headline":"Julio Foolio, Unions and \u201cSweat Equity\u201d","datePublished":"2026-07-21T17:09:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206"},"wordCount":654,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/243941ed09fb50e4e552e6742b6a4eaa.jpeg","articleSection":["Labor","Viewpoint"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206","url":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206","name":"Julio Foolio, Unions and \u201cSweat Equity\u201d - Summit Relocation Timess","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/243941ed09fb50e4e552e6742b6a4eaa.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-07-21T17:09:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78261b7043eb436872da19e7c8eda597"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/243941ed09fb50e4e552e6742b6a4eaa.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/243941ed09fb50e4e552e6742b6a4eaa.jpeg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=206#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Julio Foolio, Unions and \u201cSweat Equity\u201d"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/","name":"Summit Relocation Timess","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78261b7043eb436872da19e7c8eda597","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com"],"url":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}