1.18.2006 ET

(CSRwire) Cincinnati - A broad-based community coalition of labor, environmental and other activist organizations today said that it has extended in a letter an invitation to meet with members of the board of directors of Golden Hope Plantations Berhad, now that, as the result of a joint venture, the oleo-chemical portion of the Cognis' Cincinnati plant is being operated from Golden Hope's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia.

The United Steelworkers (USW), Environmental Community Organization (ECO), Ohio Citizen Action (OCA), Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council, Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters, Lower Price Hill Environmental Leadership Council, Sierra Club, Ohio Chapter and other groups seek to engage Golden Hope in discussions about a number of issues surrounding a year-long labor dispute between about 250 members of USW Local 14340 and Cognis at the Cincinnati chemical plant, as well as continuing problems with accidental fires, chemical spills and complaints about noxious odors in the residential neighborhoods around the facility.

The coalition is contacting the Malaysian company also in part because their efforts to engage in similar conversations with Cognis have been rebuffed.

USW District 1 Director David McCall said that the pollution and safety problems have become predictably worse since the labor dispute began because, for the most part, Cognis' replacement workers have no chemical operating experience and are not QS-9002 certified.

"We are hopeful that a change in management will bring about a change in the needlessly antagonistic approach to labor relations that has persisted at the Cincinnati facility until now," McCall said. "We are optimistic that we can work with Golden Hope management to negotiate a fair contract for our members, end the strike, reduce dangerous chemical discharges and make the Cincinnati facility and its surrounding neighborhoods healthier, safer places to live and work."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has alleged that the company has been operating in significant violation of the federal Clean Air and Resource Conservation and Recovery Acts and in 2005 fined Cognis $44,000 for air violations. Likewise during 2005, Cognis was responsible for the vast majority of citizen complaints registered with the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services due to the release of noxious odors.

In one instance, odors from the Cincinnati plant caused the evacuation of a nearby Montessori elementary school. More recently, a mid-December spill reached adjacent Mill Creek and killed an estimated 8,000 fish, at least eleven geese, a duck and a Belted Kingfisher.

"Golden Hope and Cognis are obligated to provide safe jobs in a clean environment," said Ohio Chapter Sierra Club Conservation Chair Marilyn Wall. "Their high discharges of dioxin and toxic chemicals and history of accidental releases threaten the community, environment and the workers."

ECO Community Liaison Marti Sinclair said Golden Hope should act immediately and intervene in the labor dispute for the sake of residents of the community around the plant on the Cincinnati-St. Bernard border, as well as the future of the company.

"The members of USW Local 14340 who were trained to minimize or prevent the risk of potentially catastrophic industrial accidents and voluntarily formed a plant safety and health committee are now stuck outside the gates of the plant," Sinclair said. "We believe that it is clearly in the best interest of everyone involved to get them back on the job where they belong."

To view the letter of invitation to Golden Hope, go to http://tinyurl.com/73ha6 (in English) and http://tinyurl.com/7l2hs (in Malay).

For more information please contact:

Tony Montana
United Steelworkers
(216) 292-5683

Marti Sinclair
Environmental Community Organization
(513) 761-6140 ext. 28

Ruth Breech
Ohio Citizen Action
(513) 221-2100

For more information please contact: