Alcohol or drug abuse in workplaces is continually becoming a major issue between the employees and the employers. However, there have been several advanced measures and policies put in place, but organizations still are finding difficulty implementing them at times.
After years of experience, organisations have seen that employee unions play a major part in the success/failure of implementing these policies. Some even believe unions may have the ability either to build a company or to break it when employee relation issues arise.
Employee Unions – a few weaknesses
Unlike organisations employee unions can be viewed as
- Emotionally based and issues based
- Unconcerned with the long-term future and more keen on ensuring workers’ rights
- Focused on immediate problems and provision of a quick resolution.
However, many organisations or employers may try to solve issues with a broader perspective and keeping the ‘long run’ and the need for profits in mind. These differences in the thinking patterns of employers and unions often give rise to employee-employer conflicts. The same applies when it comes to implementing safety policies particularly in mining industries.
Safety in the Mining Sector
Safety is of utmost importance particularly to mining industries. So the organisations tend to conduct several safety tests every now and then whenever they come across any alcohol/drug abuse incidents. These often irritate the employees as they feel that the organizations over react even for small incidents.
Example from a real life scenario:
A few years ago, a coal company located to north-west of Brisbane encountered a similar situation, which clearly explains the role played by the employee unions. The supervising authorities, while carrying out their regular checks, came across a syringe needle that they thought may have been used for consuming illegal drugs. They suspected that one or few of the individuals might have been involved in this and they immediately arranged for what they call ‘blind test’ in order to catch hold of the culprits.
This led to employee anger and a protest against the organisation ensued. They approached two national mining employee unions looking for justice in this regard. These unions, without much thinking, supported the employees and stood against the organisation’s stance. The unions stated that the organisation was not looking for a safer working environment, but rather looking for a chance to get rid of few trouble employees. It took almost a year for both the parties to reach common ground.
Though safety tests have now been introduced in favour of the organisation at last, employee unions delayed and slowed the process down considerably, wasting time and money.
What’s the moral of the story? Make the Employee Unions Understand
The above incident clearly explains how an employee union can affect the performance of an organisation and may also obstruct the need for drug and alcohol screening onsite. Employers and companies may need to carry out tests in order to ensure the safety of all onsite.
Talk with Mediscreen about onsite screening programmes that can be developed to suit your needs. 1300 797040
References:
1. http://www.hse.gov.uk/mining/
2. http://www.stanford.edu/group/coal_mining_safety/3-5%20paper.pdf
