The Presence of Drug Testing in the Workplace and Union Member Attitudes

This study examines the extent to which union members are subject to drug testing in their workplaces, and whether the presence of a drug testing program is related to union member attitudes concerning drug testing. This study found that 28.8 percent of union respondents were subject to drug testing, well above the U.S. government estimate that 20 percent of the total work force is subject to drug testing. This study also found that 76 percent of union respondents accept limited drug testing, whether or not they presently have drug testing in their workplaces. However, this study found that union respondents already subject to drug testing differ from union members with no drug testing by expressing less agreement for probable cause testing, random testing, and discharging people who test positive for drugs. This study concludes that the presence of drug testing in the workplace did not lessen union respondent support for limited drug testing as a general principle, but the presence of testing appears to
have negatively sensitized union respondents to particular aspects of drug testing policy.