Tougher Program for Drug Testing Supported by RTD

Acting within hours of an official request by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District voted unanimously Thursday to broaden and strengthen its mandatory drug-testing program for drivers and other employees.

Earlier in the day, the supervisors urged the RTD and other public and school bus systems to establish “comprehensive policies of scientifically and medically testing bus drivers for drugs or alcohol at regular intervals.” In his original motion, Supervisor Kenneth Hahn asked for unannounced drug screening of drivers because public safety is involved. But Supervisor Ed Edelman, while supporting a strong drug testing program, challenged the mandatory unannounced testing on grounds that the courts have held it to be unconstitutional.

At their session, the RTD directors instructed General Manager John A. Dyer to review the supervisors’ request and meet with United Transportation Union General Chairman Earl Clark and other union representatives to make specific recommendations on strengthening the district’s drug and alcohol policy.

Dyer, who said the district’s present policy of pre-employment and twice-a-year drug screening already makes it “comparable to if not superior to anything in the United States,” told the directors that the issue is a complex one and estimated that recommendations could not be made for 30 to 60 days.

The drug-testing issue was sparked by a May 12 accident in which one RTD bus rammed into the back of another, injuring at least 20 people. Vivian Lee Harris, driver of one of the buses, was fired three days later for allegedly driving under the influence of cocaine.

Drivers Defended

Clark, who told both the supervisors and the RTD directors that drivers were “getting the short end of the stick” and “catch the brunt” of public criticism for poor service, said he nonetheless supported strengthening the drug testing program as long as it is fair to the employees.

He said the union might even support random drug testing if it does not violate drivers’ constitutional and other legal rights.

“If you are going to give drivers tests, we want good, refined tests,” he told the directors, “not this plastic tube that is handled by 14 people and sent off to some two-bit laboratory . . . . We want the same kind of test they give baseball players.”

Claims Catalyst Role

In his remarks to the supervisors, Clark said the union had been “a catalyst” in developing the RTD’s current drug and alcohol testing and rehabilitation program. He also charged that the supervisors and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission are responsible for what he called “the deplorable bus service of RTD,” and said that “many drivers work seven days a week.”

Hahn pledged $1 million of the $3 million allocated to his district from the half-cent Proposition A sales tax for transit so that no driver would have to work a seven-day week.

Dyer said that one reason drivers are sometimes required to work seven day weeks is because RTD employees average 30 days a year in unexcused absences.

32 Employees Fired

Dyer told the supervisors that the pre-employment drug testing has been standard procedure since 1973, and said that since the current drug and alcohol policy went into effect in September of last year 284 employees have successfully completed the drug or alcohol rehabilitation program. He said 32 employees have been fired.

Of the 316 RTD workers who have been found to have drug problems, about half were drivers, according to Dyer.

Edelman amended Hahn’s motion to request the County Transportation Commission to provide increased financing to relieve overcrowding on the RTD; to ask the United Transportation Union and the RTD to work together to reduce absenteeism; to define the conditions under which mandatory drug testing can be conducted and to require that the best possible scientific program of drug testing be used. The amended motion was approved by a vote of 4 to 0.