In 2020, the SMART labor union started an organizing campaign at our Kingspan Light + Air (“KLA”) facility in Santa Ana, California. After two years of campaigning, it still has not filed a petition to hold an election under NLRB procedures. It is reasonable to assume this is because our employees there have not shown enough support and interest to hold an election.
KLA is proud of providing its employees with competitive pay, excellent benefits, opportunities for training and growth, and good working conditions.
At Santa Ana, as was the case before the SMART labor union began its campaign, KLA continues to take employee concerns seriously, and pay, benefits and working environment issues are pro-actively addressed. That said, KLA remains committed to listening and understanding what more can be done to create an environment in which its employees can thrive.
The SMART labor union has been running a campaign in relation to claims on air safety and clean water, which distorts the facts and ignores KLA’s long history of dedication to a safe working environment for all employees and a clean environment for the local community.
Air quality - Independent results revealed no air quality issues
The SMART labor union facilitated a report which alleged that our Santa Ana employees were exposed to dangerous air quality inside the facility. This was not true. The report’s conclusions were flawed for many reasons, including being based on exposure standards set for outdoor situations instead of for indoor situations.
KLA subsequently hired Yorke Engineering LLC to test the indoor air quality. Yorke is a well-respected independent environmental engineering company with a 25-year history of conducting environmental assessments using regulator approved methods and appropriate standards.
The Yorke test results – using the correct measurement standard – found our employees were not exposed to dangerous air quality inside our facility. The area of the plant where the SMART labor union conducted its tests was at a welding station where 5 people work, and independent testing showed that once the correct procedures are followed in terms of operating the ventilating equipment and wearing PPE, there is no air quality issue in that location or at all.
KLA continues to work with California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) to ensure all air quality standards are met or exceeded.
Recent inspections
Like many Californian businesses, the Santa Ana facility was inspected by Cal/OSHA. The findings of the inspection have been cited by the ‘Clean up Kingspan’ campaign and the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health.
Kingspan acknowledges that some violations were found in the inspection. It is important to emphasize, however, that all issues were addressed and corrected at the time of the inspection. In addition, none of the issues identified related to the air quality or clean water issues raised above.