On this day in 1968, 1/5th of San Quentin's prison population of 3,900 risked the Warden's threat of an additional year behind bars by initiating a work strike, returning to their cells after breakfast. One of the main grievances of the convicts was their inability to voice complaints about brutality from the prison guards.

Prison authorities claimed that the strike was a failure and that there was only a "sick call" only slightly larger than normal, however reports from prisoners themselves indicated more than seven hundred went on strike the first day.

The strike quickly grew in proportion - just a few days after it began, more than 80% of the prison population were refusing to work.

The prison warden declared a "general lockup", which confined all prisoners to their cells, and claimed the strike was over. Despite this, the prisoners considered their protest a victory, as prison work had successfully been stopped, and without the violence of other prison uprisings.