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14 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 30/2004
A delegation of trade unionists from the United States along with ICEM Asia-Pacific Regional Secretary Phee Jungsun began an effort today in Taiwan to end the three-year lockout by Continental Carbon Co. (CCC) of union members in Ponca City, Oklahoma. Workers represented by ICEM US affiliate Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy (PACE) Workers Union will attempt to meet with leading members of the Koo Group to resolve the longstanding conflict.
The delegation will also include members of the Native American Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, which together with PACE has brought environmental lawsuits against CCC over alleged land and air violations. The Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions is hosting the visit.
"After three years, not a single member of the Koo family has agreed to meet with the union about the lockout or with persons who have been suffering from CCC's pollution," said PACE Director of Special Projects Joe Drexler. "Our purpose is not only to have a meeting but to find a way to end the lockout and pollution of our land, air and water."
On 8 May 2001, CCC, wholly-owned by the Koo Group, locked 85 workers off their jobs in Ponca City. Management was seeking wage cuts, an increase in workers' health care contributions of 300-500% and contractual language that would effectively eliminate most full-time workers and replace them with contractors.
CCC manufactures carbon black, a binding material used in the rubber industry. The Ponca City plant lost its largest customer in September 2002 when Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. dropped the firm as a supplier following a shipment of alleged defective carbon black. Replacement workers have operated the Ponca City plant since the lockout. In April 2004, Cooper Tire, CCC's third largest customer, announced it would no longer use the firm as a supplier of carbon black.
PACE has sent some 60,000 tire safety alerts to manufacturers, retailers and other entities on potential defects in tire made with defective carbon black. "Goodyear and Cooper's actions to drop Continental Carbon certainly reveal a much more sensitive position on tire safety," stated Drexler.
The current visit by the American trade unionists is the third such trip to Taiwan in efforts to involve members of the Koo family to resolve the dispute. In June 2002, locked out workers and PACE representatives attended an AGM of the holding company, but were escorted out of the meeting by security guards when they attempted to speak on the Oklahoma lockout.
The delegation will also include members of the Native American Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, which together with PACE has brought environmental lawsuits against CCC over alleged land and air violations. The Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions is hosting the visit.
"After three years, not a single member of the Koo family has agreed to meet with the union about the lockout or with persons who have been suffering from CCC's pollution," said PACE Director of Special Projects Joe Drexler. "Our purpose is not only to have a meeting but to find a way to end the lockout and pollution of our land, air and water."
On 8 May 2001, CCC, wholly-owned by the Koo Group, locked 85 workers off their jobs in Ponca City. Management was seeking wage cuts, an increase in workers' health care contributions of 300-500% and contractual language that would effectively eliminate most full-time workers and replace them with contractors.
CCC manufactures carbon black, a binding material used in the rubber industry. The Ponca City plant lost its largest customer in September 2002 when Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. dropped the firm as a supplier following a shipment of alleged defective carbon black. Replacement workers have operated the Ponca City plant since the lockout. In April 2004, Cooper Tire, CCC's third largest customer, announced it would no longer use the firm as a supplier of carbon black.
PACE has sent some 60,000 tire safety alerts to manufacturers, retailers and other entities on potential defects in tire made with defective carbon black. "Goodyear and Cooper's actions to drop Continental Carbon certainly reveal a much more sensitive position on tire safety," stated Drexler.
The current visit by the American trade unionists is the third such trip to Taiwan in efforts to involve members of the Koo family to resolve the dispute. In June 2002, locked out workers and PACE representatives attended an AGM of the holding company, but were escorted out of the meeting by security guards when they attempted to speak on the Oklahoma lockout.