SAFETY VERSUS PRIVACY AT SUNCOR
Union vows to continue fight against random drug tests
The union representing Suncor workers in northern Alberta said Thursday it is seeking a last-minute injunction next week to block company plans to start a controversial random drug and alcohol testing program.
Unifor has been battling the energy giant for more than five years to stop a scheme it argues will violate the privacy of approximately 3,000 members. But Suncor insists it is needed to protect people and equipment.
“Despite our commitment and efforts, we continue to have pressing safety concerns in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) related to workplace alcohol and drug use,” the company wrote in an Oct. 19 memo obtained by Postmedia.
“Suncor continues to have safety incidents in the RMWB involving alcohol and drugs, including life-altering injuries, fatalities, an alarming number of ongoing positive tests, as well as hundreds of security incidents.”
The memo says testing will begin Dec. 1 for employees in safetysensitive or key roles around Fort McMurray.
Contractors will also have to check their workers. Security incidents include impaired driving, drug seizures and violations of the alcohol and drug policy, as well as finding liquor, drugs and drug paraphernalia, the memo says.
But Ken Smith, president of Unifor Local 707A, said Thursday it will ask for an injunction Nov. 30 in Edmonton’s Court of Queen’s Bench to prevent random testing until there’s a final decision on whether it should be permitted.
“We’re talking about a person’s dignity and their personal rights. It’s intrusive, and we haven’t seen any proof that this would make a safer work environment,” he said.
“It would be a strike against human rights for workers across Canada for sure to say you must open yourself up to random testing.”
Suncor tried to introduce the program in 2012, but Unifor won an injunction to stop it.
Although an arbitration tribunal found in favour of the union in 2014, a judge overturned the ruling last year and the Alberta Court of Appeal unanimously upheld his verdict in September and ordered a new arbitration hearing.
Unifor applied this week for leave to appeal the case to the Supreme Court of Canada, Smith said.
“We don’t have a drug and alcohol problem here … There’s nothing showing it’s more prevalent in our work area. Our statistics show the opposite — we’re a safe workforce,” he said, estimating a total of about 8,000 people work at the Suncor facilities on a typical day.
“As president of the local, I haven’t seen hundreds of (incidents), not with our members. It’s a very small number that we have had detected.”
A Suncor representative wasn’t available for comment.
Random testing standards developed in 2012 that were attached to the Suncor memo indicate at least half the people with jobs that involve safety or “a key or direct role” in the company’s Wood Buffalo operations will be checked each year.
Workers are already subject to testing after accidents or when there’s reasonable cause.
Edmonton lawyer Hugh McPhail, who represented five employer organizations that intervened at the Court of Appeal hearing, said employers in construction, oil and gas, and mining are watching the case closely.
We don’t have a drug and alcohol problem here … There’s nothing showing it’s more prevalent in our work area.