Cognis is currently involved in a 50/50 joint venture at the Cincinnati facility with Kuala Lumpur-based Golden Hope Plantations, Bhd., which is at least partially owned by an investment firm chaired by Malaysian prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
In a letter that was hand delivered to the embassy, USW District 1 director Dave McCall urged Malaysian ambassador Ghazzali bin Sheikh Abdu Khalid to help facilitate a dialog that the union hopes would lead to a settlement of the 14-month labor dispute.
"By returning to work at the Cognis plant in Winton Place," McCall wrote, "these experienced and skilled workers can help your investors regain the confidence of our community coalition, the local residents and the international labor community."
Earlier this year, as part of a coalition of Cincinnati area community and environmental activist groups, the USW sought to engage members of Golden Hope's board of directors in discussions about a number of safety- and public health-related problems that emerged after the strike began, including continuing problems with accidental fires and injuries at the plant, chemical spills and complaints about noxious odors in the residential neighborhoods around the facility.
Last month, after a five-month investigation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed penalties of nearly $30,000 for 13 serious violations at the Cincinnati facility, and because many of the violations were the result of insufficient training of its replacement workforce, the company was ordered to provide additional training prior to April 26. The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) also assessed a $44,000 penalty against Cognis in October 2005 for violations of ozone regulations.
"We believe that Cognis' problems in Cincinnati begin with the company's stubborn insistence on keeping its inadequately trained replacement workers," McCall said, "and will end only after our members have returned to their rightful jobs."
