A labour arbitrator has ordered the TTC to stop its random drug testing of employees \u201cimmediately,\u201d ruling that the policy is \u201cunreasonable\u201d and likely violates their Charter rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe TTC has an interest in public and workplace safety and enhancing that safety is a reasonable goal. However, randomly testing employees for drugs and alcohol without cause is not a reasonable measure to achieve that goal,\u201d Laura Trachuk wrote in her sweeping, 389-page decision released Monday.<\/p>\n
The Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113, represents roughly 12,000 public transit workers and has been fighting the policy since 2010, arguing that it relied on \u201cjunk science\u201d to test and dismiss hundreds of workers since it came into effect.<\/p>\n
The TTC first introduced its Fit for Duty Policy three years after an incident in 2007, when a subway track worker was killed and two others were injured while conducting overnight work in a subway tunnel. <\/p>\n
Trachuk pointed out that the coroner determined the worker who was killed had THC in his system, the primary psychoactive compound found in cannabis. While it was determined at the time that the presence of THC in the worker\u2019s system did not cause the accident, the incident led to the introduction of the policy, she said.<\/p>\n
The policy started with drug and alcohol testing for reasonable causes, post-incident analysis, and certifications, but was expanded in 2017 to include random tests. The union sought, and failed to receive, an injunction to that expansion.<\/p>\n
In her ruling, Trachuk said the TTC has not demonstrated that there is a \u201cgeneral problem\u201d with drugs and alcohol in the workplace, and that any deterrent benefits from random testing are outweighed by the \u201cintrusion\u201d on the employees\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n
Beyond those findings, Trachuk also took issue with the way the tests are carried out. She said that while a breathalyzer is \u201creliable evidence\u201d that an employee may not be fit for duty, oral fluid testing (OFT) for cannabis and cocaine are both \u201cless reliable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people who test positive for cannabis will be feeling the effects of THC but some will not be. Likewise, a positive OFT for cocaine is less reliable evidence that an employee is unfit for duty than a positive breathalyzer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Union applauds ruling<\/p>\n
In a statement, Local 113 welcomed the decision, but pointed out that millions of tax-payer dollars had been poured into a program that was unreasonable, a breach of workers\u2019 rights, and \u201cdid not work.\u201d The ruling does not spell out the cost of carrying out random drug tests. <\/p>\n
\u201cApart from the loss of privacy and the lives ruined by this misguided program, the public has suffered,\u201d union president Marvin Alfred said, adding the policy has been a \u201ctragedy\u201d for workers who have been dismissed. \u201cPublic dollars that could have been used for real and effective safety initiatives were instead wasted.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the TTC\u2019s part, a spokesperson for the transit agency said it is reviewing the ruling and weighing its options, which could include requesting a judicial review.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe maintain that in a safety-critical industry such as transit, random testing is the best way to ensure we are providing the safest service possible for our staff, customers, and the public,\u201d Stuart Green wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn that regard, this decision is extremely disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear if any of the employees who have been dismissed under the policy will be reinstated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A labour arbitrator has ordered the TTC to stop its random drug testing of employees \u201cimmediately,\u201d ruling that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[712,49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-801667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}