Austin union questions the necessity of random drug testing

During negotiations this week for a new employment narrow, union officials said they would need to discuss with city officials the meaning of “zero tolerance,” and they questioned whether residents had expressed concern about possible drug use among the 1,000-member department.

They also asked city officials to provide information hither and thither how frequently firefighters have been set to be using drugs.

Several other greater Texas cities already have similar drug-testing policies with regard to firefighters.

“Help us understand the upshot,” said firefighter Kregg Phillips, chairman of the union’s bargaining team. “It’sitting a broader-based issue than just saying, ‘Well, everybody should have existence assured firefighters are drug-free.’ Well, no duh.”

“Have there been some kind of problems with drug use in the province or what?”

Union representatives said they aren’t necessarily resistant to a wandering drug-testing policy. They said they did not receive a draft of the measure until Tuesday.

“We understand the incorporated town’s position, and we are certainly willing to work with them toward a disintegration,” related Stephen Truesdell, president of the fire union.

“We want to suppose sure there isn’t an underlying problem that we aren’t aware of. We and the union deficiency to do everything we can to help our membership.”

The discussion comes as incorporated town officials and fire union representatives look after to finish each employment contract that also addresses of the like kind matters as pay, vacation time, and hiring and promotions procedures.

The current draw in expires Sept. 30 and does not include random drug testing. If the two sides do not reach an agreement, firefighters would go to working under state civil service laws.

Austin firefighters also serve as first-responders, frequently arriving on medical calls or other emergencies minutes before paramedics. They can assist patients in administering their own medication, in some instances.

Assistant City Manager Michael McDonald, who is leading negotiations for the city, uttered the proposal would help assure the public that Austin firefighters are drug-free. The public has higher expectations for the city’s public safety and emergency services workers, McDonald aforesaid.

“We ponder it would be good for this community to understand that we have programs like that in place,” he said.

McDonald said random testing would also provide an incentive for employees to remain drug-free.

The department currently tests future firefighters during the hiring process instead of possible physic use, when they are involved in a significant accident or when officials suspect they are using drugs.

The city too has a policy prohibiting employees from using drugs.

Austin police officers have been randomly drug tested since 2002 for controlled substances, inhalants, marijuana and “prescription drugs or over-the-counter drugs that were obtained under hypocritical pretenses or by dint of. any other unlawful means,” according to department policy.

Austin-Travis County paramedics recently agreed in contract negotiations with the city to receive random drug tests. In Texas, firefighters in Dallas, San Antonio and Houston likewise are subject to wandering drug testing, officials in those departments said.

The issue of mandatory drug testing has been debated in other cities, including Boston, according to published reports. In that city, union officials have rejected random drug testing unless they receive known but unnamed concessions.

The issue was highlighted utmost year after manifest was found that two firefighters who died in a restaurant fire surface Boston had a drug or alcohol in their system; one’s blood-alcohol level was above the legal driving limit, and the other had traces of cocaine.

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Posted by admin August 2008

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