Random drug, alcohol tests challenged

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Unions representing thousands of Air New Zealand staff have begun legal action to halt plans to introduce random drug and alcohol testing.

Six unions, including those representing aircraft engineers and flight attendants, have won the right to be heard by a full bench of three Employment Court judges.

This follows an unsuccessful bid by the airline to have the case determined by the lower Employment Relations Authority.

The Airline Pilots' Association is not involved in the case, but a spokesman said it was confident that random testing was unlawful without the consent of employees.

Air New Zealand pilots must not drink alcohol for 12 hours before starting duty, and the airline does not tolerate illegal drug use.

Air NZ insists random breath and urine testing would be just one part of a policy already in place to keep its operations safe by guarding against drug and alcohol abuse.

Spokeswoman Rosie Paul said testing in "safety-sensitive" areas would not start until all of its 9000 or so employees had completed a programme to heighten awareness about the dangers of drugs and alcohol at work.

But in an affidavit to the employment authority, Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union secretary Andrew Little expressed concern at an alleged widely held belief by employers that they had a right to require staff to provide bodily fluids on request.

Authority member Dr Dzintra King accepted that the case should be referred straight to the court.

It would involve issues relating to the Privacy Act and Bill of Rights Act as well as the newly amended Health and Safety in Employment Act.

The Employment Court has agreed to assemble a full bench of judges for a hearing on October 6, and alerted the Council of Trade Unions and the employers' organisation Business New Zealand to the case.

Engineering union lawyer Anne-Marie Hendra said the unions agreed with many points in the new policy and there was a consensus that any substance abuse which endangered people at work was unacceptable.

But the unions believed there were other ways of dealing with drug and alcohol problems short of taking bodily samples from workers.

Union health and safety officer Mike Ward said drug tests were notoriously unreliable and no substitute for workers looking after each other and being educated to persuade colleagues with symptoms of illness or substance abuse to seek help.

Rosie Paul said Air New Zealand already tested potential new employees as a condition of recruitment in safety-sensitive areas.

She understood the unions were not opposed to tests of those involved in accidents or dangerous incidents, or who gave reasonable cause to suspect substance abuse, although this could not be confirmed yesterday.

Forestry companies Carter Holt Harvey and Fletcher Forests require contractors to test logging gangs, and various fishing companies take urine samples from crews returning from long spells at sea.

Fletcher Construction is also considering mandatory drug testing on construction sites, and the Defence Force is looking at increasing the frequency of its testing.

Tranz Rail has in the past two years introduced testing for staff involved in accidents or dangerous incidents, but the Rail and Maritime Transport Union said the company had been persuaded not to extend this to random tests.

Union secretary Wayne Butson said a ministerial inquiry into rail safety had urged the company to promote a "no-blame" culture to encourage staff to report hazards, and random drug-testing was the antithesis of that sort of "mature" relationship.

"We told them [Tranz Rail] we don't need to promote mistrust - we've already got it - we need to promote trust and confidence."