The new policy, reported by the Globe and Mail, was an offshoot of an investigation that a maintenance crew died on the job in 2007 while high on marijuana and after a bus operator was recently fired for drunk driving.
Bob Kinnear, president of Local 113 of the Amalgamated Transit Union which represents 9,000 TTC workers, admitted he had not read the details of the plan, but promised to oppose the mandatory testing.
The TTC board and staff reportedly have different views on the drug and alcohol tests.
The TTC released in June the results of the probe into the death of maintenance worker Tony Almeida whose work car crashed into the wall of a subway panel. The 38-year old employee was discovered to have smoked marijuana hours before he died and turned out to have a record of illegal drug use a year ago.
Nevertheless, the TTC pleaded guilty to the Ministry of Labor over the death of Almeida and paid a penalty of $250,000.
Kinnear insisted the TTC reaction to the two incidents were overblown since drug or alcohol abuse while working is rare. "We have thousands of employees that go to work each and every day and with no problem. As far as we are concerned, the TTC is making an issue of a non-issue," Kinnear told the Globe and Mail.
Meanwhile, Debbie Virgoe, the widow of a trucker killed in a street racing accident joined the Ontario Police and the Ontario Trucking Association in giving road safety an extra push by making trucks double as rolling billboards for safety. The OTA will distribute decals to truckers that read: "Help Keep our Workplace Safe."
On June 2007, truck driver David Virgoe was cut off on Highway 400, but he still managed to direct his truck toward an embankment rather than hit other vehicles on the road.
