The union representing employees at two Teck Coal Ltd. mines has filed a petition in the Supreme Court of British Columbia to halt the company’s implementation of a random drug and alcohol testing program. The union complains that the program is unlawful and is inconsistent with human rights privacy legislation. The parties are in arbitration, but according to the union there is no way to stop the program quickly without intervention from the court.
The petition was filed at the Vancouver courthouse on Wednesday, Nov. 28, by the union representing employees at Teck’s open pit Elkview and Fording River mines. The union says that Teck is planning to start a mandatory drug and alcohol testing program on Dec. 3, 2012, with the program to be randomly applied to all employees. It will replace the company’s existing screening process, which only targets employees the company has reasonable cause to test.
According to the petition, there is no good reason to extend testing to all employees. Although Teck has tried to justify the new program on the basis of injuries, the union points out that fatalities and injuries are low at open pit mines in B.C. Insurance rates for such mines, which are based in part on injury rates, are lower than those of lawn bowling facilities.
The union says it has been attempting to halt the program through an arbitration process, but the arbitrator is unavailable for some time. Despite that, the company still plans to start the program on Dec. 3. As the union sees it, the arbitrator would likely deliver a ruling favourable to the employees. In previous cases involving the same mines, arbitrators have found random testing to be an unreasonable invasion of privacy. This is especially true given that Teck plans to include in the testing employees who do not perform risky jobs, the petition states.
The union further contends that there is no evidence of accidents caused by impaired employees. “The policy … involves searches akin to non-consensual personal searches or invasive medical procedures in circumstances where the employer has no basis to even suspect drug or alcohol use,” the petition reads.
The petition seeks a court order that will delay implementation of the program until the arbitrator in the dispute has been able to make a ruling. Vancouver lawyer John Hodgins filed the petition on behalf of the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union.
Source: Mike Caswell, Stockwatch
