Suncor Stymied In Its Latest Attempt To Implement Drug And Alcohol Testing

Only weeks after what appeared to be a victory for employers with respect to random drug and alcohol testing, Unifor, Local 707 (the "Union") has won the latest battle in the long and seemingly never-ending saga involving Suncor's implementation of random drug and alcohol testing at its mine site north of Fort McMurray, Alberta.

Just over two months ago, the Alberta Court of Appeal issued a decision, which was widely regarded as a win for employers wishing to institute random testing. This case has been before the Courts since the fall of 2012. Despite some initial success by the Union in obtaining the injunction, and at arbitration, employers seeking to enforce random testing policies believed the path to random testing may have finally been cleared by the Court of Appeal's ruling.