NCJ Number
126440
Journal
New York University Law Review Volume: 64 Issue: 6 Dated: (December 1989) Pages: 1286-1345
Date Published
1989
Length
60 pages
Annotation
The implementation by employers of government-mandated, employee drug-detection programs offends the national labor policy's commitment to collective bargaining.
Abstract
Although there is a powerful argument in favor of government-imposed regulation of alcohol and drug abuse in the workplaces of transportation employers in order to protect public safety, the form that this governmental intervention takes is extremely important. Direct intervention undermines the policy favoring collective bargaining and arbitration as the means for resolving labor disputes. A requirement that employers bargain to impasse or agreement with the unions representing their employees prior to establishing a drug-testing program would not mean that drug-testing programs could not be implemented. Rather, it would mean that unions would have the opportunity to help shape an effective testing policy. Many drug-testing programs would then be the product of consensus between the employer and the union. Effective drug-testing programs can be achieved only through bargaining. 332 notes