Workers at Suncor’s Fort McMurray operation got a court injunction to keep the company from starting a random drug testing operation Monday.

Court of Queens Bench Justice Eric Macklin granted the temporary injunction, saying random drug testing can be an invasion of privacy that could cause irreparable harm to innocent employees.

The judge heard union affidavits from two female workers who had experienced drug testing.

A previous arbitration report said the company’s drug testing policy was “overbroad,” Macklin said.

Safety is a legitimate concern for the company and for its workers, Macklin added, saying that there needs to be a balance between safety and human rights.

“There is no doubt it is an inherently dangerous workplace,” he said.

He said records show there are clearly some alcohol and drug problems among workers at the oilsands.

Although Suncor said it intended only to randomly drug test workers in safety-sensitive positions, the judge noted that at Suncor’s Fort McMurray operation, that would affect 85% of workers, or over 1,400 workers.

Macklin told the company and CEP (Communications, Energy & Paperworkers) Local 707 to head into arbitration within two weeks to figure out if the new policy is reasonable or not.

Suncor indicated it expects to appeal Macklin’s injunction. There will likely be a Court of Appeal of Alberta hearing on Wednesday.

The Supreme Court has defined fair testing under the Canadian Human Rights Act, and CEP’s lawyers asked the judge to wait for a Supreme Court of Canada ruling expected on Dec. 7 in a similar case in New Brunswick between Irving Oil and Local 30 of the CEP.

Local 707 has applied to the Supreme Court for intervener status in the New Brunswick matter, said Roland LeFort, president of CEP local 707.

“It’s an important decision, based on privacy and human rights, that the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that workers and individuals have rights under the Charter and we don’t believe those rights should be abandoned at the gates of any workplace,” he said.

Athabasca University labour relations professor Bob Barnetson said there’s quite a bit of drug testing that goes on in Alberta — pre-hire clearance testing or testing after an injury accident or if a worker appears to be impaired on the work site.

“The notion that 10% of your workforce is going to get piss-tested every month for drug use — that is something that isn’t widely done in Alberta,” Barnetson said.

“There’s no evidence that drug use increases the rate of workplace injury, and not surprisingly, there’s no evidence that random drug testing reduces the rate of workplace injury.

“The safety rationale, then, is entirely bogus, which means the rationale for this program is bogus — and we ought to attend to other questions, like privacy.”

jackie.larson@sunmedia.ca