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Steelworkers File Shareholder Counter Proposal

28 April 1999

Steelworkers File Shareholder Counter Proposal; Press Continental AG to Comply With ILO Standards

    PITTSBURGH, April 27 -- The United Steelworkers of America
(USWA) filed a shareholder counter proposal Tuesday with the German tire and
auto parts manufacturer Continental AG.  The Steelworkers proposal will be
considered by all shareholders of Continental at the company's June 1, 1999
annual meeting in Hanover, Germany.
    The Steelworkers' proposal asks Continental shareholders to withhold
discharge, or indemnification, of the company's management board until it
adopts a corporate code of conduct based on the International Labor
Organization's (ILO) Conventions, including the right to form unions,
collectively bargain, and strike.
    Local 850 of the USWA in Charlotte, North Carolina, is currently in the
seventh month of an unfair labor practice strike at Continental's U.S.
subsidiary, Continental General Tire.  In November 1998 the Company hired
hundreds of permanent replacement workers and notified the strikers that they
would lose their jobs.  The hiring of permanent strikebreakers is illegal in
Germany.
    The Steelworkers contend that Continental General Tire has committed
numerous unfair labor practices, violating U.S. labor laws, and has committed
acts contrary to the ILO Conventions, including the hiring of permanent
replacement workers.
    Continental AG's actions in other countries underscore the need for the
company to adopt a corporate code of conduct.  In Turkey, for example,
45 workers at Aktas/Contitech in Bursa were recently fired outright for
organizing a union.  In response, tire union leaders from seven countries met
in Charlotte on April 23, issuing a joint statement that called on Continental
AG unions world wide to undertake "dramatic and concerted action" in response
to the company's "anti-worker actions."
    Steelworkers President George Becker said, "Our union is taking assertive
action in the United States and overseas in advocating corporate governance
reforms that protect workers, enhance productivity, and increase shareholder
value.  If adopted by Continental's shareholders, our resolution will benefit
employees, employers, and shareholders alike," Becker said.
    "The risks facing multinational corporations in the global market can be
reduced if these corporations enact and enforce meaningful codes of conduct
designed to ensure a steady supply of product to customers, maintain the
goodwill of consumers and governments, and lessen the possibility of work
stoppages," Becker said.
    In its letter to Continental AG describing the counter proposal, the USWA
also announced that it will submit the resolution in person at the Company's
June 1 annual meeting and that it will actively solicit other shareholders to
vote in favor of the resolution.