AFL-CIO Coalition Seeks to Clip Hair Testing
Photo: FMCSA
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Photo: FMCSA
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A coalition of 32 AFL-CIO member unions representing transportation workers is urging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to deny a petition by several trucking companies to use hair specimens in lieu of federally mandated urine in pre-employment drug tests.
The Transportation Trades Department of AFL-CIO contends that the safety agency should “follow established protocol and put science first” by denying the petition filed back in October by Maverick Transportation, Knight Transportation, J.B. Hunt Transport Services and Dupré Logistics, all members of the Alliance for Driver Safety & Security, along with Schneider National and Werner Enterprises.
In comments filed on April 25, TTD pushed back against the petition, citing concerns about the reliability, accuracy and fairness of hair testing. The union coalition stated that studies show that hair testing can produce false results and may have an inherent racial bias. Darker and more porous hair retains some drugs at greater rates than lighter hair, said TTD, adding that “hair specimens can test positive for drugs drivers never ingested.”
“No one in America should be denied employment because the trucking industry wants to rely on an unsound testing method as a way to cut drug-testing costs,” said TTD President Edward Wytkind. “Until hair testing is proven to be a reliable and fair way of testing for drug use and federal standards are in place, subjecting transportation workers to hair-testing should not be up for serious consideration.”
TTD argues that, unlike urine tests, which it said are the most accurate and reliable method for pre-employment drug testing, hair testing lacks federal oversight. Therefore, relying on hair testing as a condition of employment “could unfairly hinder a driver’s chance to earn a livelihood and sets a threatening precedent that could affect millions of workers in the transportation sector and across the …Read the rest of this story
