Union Not Opposed To Random Drug Testing at Lyttelton Port

The Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) is puzzled at comments by Lyttelton Port CEO Peter Davie that it is obstructing the introduction of random drug and alcohol testing on the waterfront

‘Mr Davie is reported in today’s Christchurch Press as saying our union is holding up the implementation of random D&A testing, this simply isn’t true,’ said RMTU South Island Organiser John Kerr.

‘No responsible union would oppose such an initiative in such a safety critical industry and we’re no exception,’ he said.

‘None of our members want to be working alongside someone who is impaired, whether that’s because they have drugs or alcohol in their system, or because they are fatigued or sick,’ he said.

‘In fact, we’ve been working through the detail with the employer to make sure that such a policy would be effective. That includes sorting out an education programme on the half-life of alcohol and prescription drugs, looking at methods of screening to eliminate false positives and what action to take in the event of a worker failing a test,’ he said.

‘Our last communication with Lyttelton management was in August and since then we’ve been waiting for them to come back to us. To date the discussions have been positive and we’ve been keen to progress matters so that we get this sorted – after all, it’s in everyone’s interest that we do it properly and in a timely manner,’ he said.

‘We’ve some experience of this having worked closely with several employers to ensure random D&A testing is part of a suite of measures adopted to improve health and safety, this includes KiwiRail and Port Otago, Centreport in Wellington. We’re currently working with C3, who handle logs on the waterfront in many ports on this very matter,’ he said.

ENDS

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