By Joy Su
STAFF REPORTER
Five Americans held a hunger strike outside the offices of Taiwan Cement yesterday to draw attention to their grievances with the Koo Group.
The protesters were employees of Continental Carbon, an Oklahoma-based subsidiary of the Koo Group, until a lockout three years ago revoked all employment contracts pending workers' agreement to new contracts that would have made union membership impossible.
"This is the longest lockout by a foreign corporation in US history. The lockout has been widely published in the US and it is damaging to the reputation of Taiwan," said Joe Drexler, director of special projects at the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers' International Union (PACE).
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2004/06/13/2003174852