** PLEASE DO NOT POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA
** We are gathering signatures and will be sending it to management soon.
** You are welcome to ask other people of faith to sign,
** but please do not post this letter on social media.
** THANK YOU!

DATE, 2022

From:
Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE)

To:  
Bill Hogan, President
Kingspan Light and Air Division Lake Forest, IL

Ron Caudill
Kingspan Light and Air, Santa Ana, CA

Dear Mr. Hogan & Mr. Caudill,

CLUE: Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice’s mission is to educate, organize, and mobilize the faith community to accompany workers and their families in their struggle for good jobs, dignity, and justice in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

CLUE’s network of faith communities are extremely concerned about the conditions in your Santa Ana factory where employees are calling on Kingspan to prioritize their health and safety, and that of the surrounding residents. We wholeheartedly support your workers’ efforts to obtain living wages, affordable healthcare, a safer workplace, and a healthier community. We understand that a majority of your employees have already asked for a fair process to help them to determine whether to join the SMART union. We urge you to respect their wishes and allow them to decide this for themselves, in an environment free from intimidation and harassment by management.

We are dismayed that your employees felt the need to file whistleblower complaints with Cal-EPA and Cal-OSHA alleging serious legal violations. They describe evidence that Kingspan has not complied with parts of the Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan it filed with the CA Water Control Board. It is crucial that Kingspan adhere to this prevention plan: the company’s own records show it exceeded allowable discharge levels for zinc in stormwater runoff by almost 7 times in 2020-21 and by over 13 times in 2019-20. We understand that the company is currently party to a federal consent decree with an environmental group addressing its practices.

We have also reviewed the report of UCI researcher, Dr. Shahir Masri, on air pollution within the Kingspan plants. We are disturbed that his analysis found airborne particulate matter inside the facility (PM2.5, or particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers) at a concentration 6 to 7 times higher than outdoors (for comparison, smoke in wildfire episodes often results in a 2- to 4-fold increase in PM2.5). Of eight employees who carried air monitors, five recorded average PM 2.5 concentrations that, if measured outdoors, would rank between “unhealthy” and “very unhealthy” according to the EPA’s Air Quality Index. Some measurements even reached the maximum limit of the air monitors used.

Kingspan’s profitability and “planet passionate” platform are inconsistent with the dangers detailed in these reports. We also ask you to review your environmental and occupational safety obligations and immediately remedy these pressing issues, as an employer and as a member of the Santa Ana community.

CLUE members feel a moral call to support the cause of your workers, and as members of the larger faith community we ask management to act respectfully and ethically throughout this process. We request a response at your earliest convenience regarding your plans to address the requests of your employees, and the crucial environmental needs of the larger community. Please send all correspondence to CLUE’s Executive Director, Michelle Seyler, at mseyler@cluejustice.org.
Sincerely,

Michelle Seyler, J.D.
Executive Director, Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice

** MORE SIGNATURES TO BE ADDED BELOW **