Ban Lifted, U.S. Orders More Drug Testing of Rail Workers

The government has ordered the nation’s railroads to resume testing workers for drug and alcohol abuse following a judge’s order temporarily lifting a ban on such examinations, a federal official said Thursday.

John Riley, administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, told the House transportation appropriations subcommittee that he had ordered the resumption of the tests Wednesday night.

“It’s very important,” Riley said of the court stay of the testing ban. He said that without the ruling, “our testing program would be terminated.”

Boost to Administration

The stay gives a temporary boost to Reagan Administration efforts to perform more drug and alcohol tests on employees in the transportation industry.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Feb. 11 struck down the agency’s two-year-old program that required railroads to check the members of train crews involved in serious accidents for drug or alcohol use. The court said such tests were unconstitutional unless there was a suspicion that an individual worker was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

But last Friday, U.S. Circuit Judge Thomas Tang granted a request by the government to stay the order until April 2. Tang was in the 2-1 majority that originally voted to invalidate the testing procedures.

Riley said that under federal judicial rules, if the government files its appeal by April 2--which officials say they will--the stay would automatically remain in effect until the Supreme Court issues a decision in the case. It is expected to take months for that to happen.

Extension Not Automatic

A spokesman for the country’s railroad unions, however, said the stay would not be automatically extended beyond April 2.

Riley has been urging Congress to approve legislation that would allow the random testing of transportation workers, arguing that such examinations would deter drug and alcohol use.