Alberta Arbitration Board Considers Random Alcohol And Drug Testing In Closely Watched Case

An Alberta Arbitration Board has recently released its decision in the closely followed case of Unifor, Local 707A v Suncor Energy Inc regarding Suncor's random drug and alcohol testing policy for safety sensitive union employees. As some will recall, this is the same case that generated the decision by the Alberta Court of Appeal in 2012 upholding an injunction on random alcohol and drug testing while the Suncor arbitration was heard, on the grounds that random testing prior to the arbitration decision would cause irreparable harm to union members.

The Suncor arbitration decision is the first case in Alberta to consider the issue of drug and alcohol testing since the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its decision in the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers, Local 30 v Irving Pulp & Paper Ltd in June 2013, which imposed significant limits on an employer's right to conduct random alcohol testing. In particular, the majority of the Supreme Court in Irving found