( CNN ) -- More than 12,000 California prison inmates are now taking part in a hunger strike launched to demand better conditions and a reduction in the use of solitary confinement , corrections officials and organizers said Thursday . The protest began Monday , when organizers said as many as 30,000 inmates refused food . By Thursday , a total of 12,421 prisoners had skipped nine consecutive meals -- the official definition of a hunger strike , according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation -- and another 1,300 others have skipped work assignments or classes , prison officials reported . Organizers say the strike is a resumption two similar protests in 2011 , one of which lasted for three weeks . `` I would say if the demands have been met , they would n't be going on a hunger strike , '' said Kamau Walton , a member of the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition . `` People do n't starve themselves for no reason . '' U.S. to keep force-feeding hunger-striking Guantanamo prisoners . Inmate demands include an end to long-term solitary confinement and halting what 's known as the `` debriefing '' policy , in which inmates are required to provide information on prison gangs to get out of solitary . Other demands include warmer clothing , better mattresses and better food . In a letter to Gov . Jerry Brown and Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard , protest leaders say the quality of prison food `` dramatically decreased '' since the California Prison Industry Authority began supplying the cafeterias . The strike 's leaders are in the maximum-security prison at Pelican Bay , near the Oregon state line , Walton said , but inmates in other participating lockups are encouraged to add their own demands . The Corrections Department said the strike is organized by prison gangs and that inmates will face disciplinary action for taking part . `` Mass hunger strikes , work stoppages and other disruptions have the potential to impact programs , operations , staffing , safety and security , '' a statement from the agency read . The department said it had instituted reforms to its solitary confinement policies in 2012 . Since then , more than 300 `` Security Housing Unit '' inmates have either been transferred back to the general population or are taking part in a program to gradually return them there , it said . State prisons house about 120,000 inmates , according to a June report from the Public Policy Institute of California . South Carolina to stop separating HIV inmates from other prisoners .
More than 12,000 prison inmates are now officially considered hunger strikers . Their demands include halting long - term solitary confinement and better treatment . Prison officials say strikers will face disciplinary action .