TTC workers won’t have to undergo random drug and alcohol testing starting Monday.
An arbitrator from the Ontario Labour Relations Board ruled that the transit authority’s testing policies are unfair, unreasonable, and unconstitutional.
The report highlights a lack of scientific proof that these tests improve safety. It also points out that the tests can be unreliable.
For many years, the TTC required employees to swab their mouths or use a breathalyzer at any moment.
The President of the largest employee union is celebrating this significant decision as a win for workers’ privacy rights.
“Literally thousands of workers have been forced to undergo these unreasonable tests which were never fit for purpose,” Marvin Alfred, President of Local 113 of the Amalgamated Transit Union said in a statement.
“Hundreds of workers have lost their employment because they were forced to take tests that were inaccurate and unreliable,” he added. “This policy has been a tragedy for the workers and their families who have been devastated because of the misguided and inappropriate use of tests.”
He argues that taxpayer money that could’ve gone towards “real and effective” safety measures was instead squandered on this “misguided” program.
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