GOSHEN — Keystone RV Co. Inc. didn’t waste time when told it may have a drug problem in one of its plants.
A week ago today, the company conducted a plantwide drug screening of all workers, blue collar and white collar, in Plant No. 304, which produces travel trailers and fifth-wheel trailers.
Among a work force of about 120, almost a third subsequently tested positive for one of four illegal drugs: marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines and methamphetamines.
Hmm, I wonder what for which drug the majority of those approximately forty employees tested positive? Could it be:
a) cocaine, amphetamines, or methamphetamines, all of which are flushed from the body within 72 hours; or
b) marijuana, which remains detectable for 30 to 45 days.
No word on how many of the employees tested positive for alcohol.
Those who tested positive either quit or were fired.
“We have always worked closely with local law enforcement making sure we have a safe and drug-free environment for all of our employees,” said Ken Julian, human resource manager at Keystone. “Through that partnership, we had reason to believe there was drug activity at Plant 304, which prompted us to take prompt action.”
Last week’s plantwide drug screen was not the first time Keystone has taken the offensive to combat drug use by its employees. But it was the first time an entire plant was tested, primarily because a tip from Goshen police said the problem was isolated to that one plant, he said.
… “We’re being very proactive,” said Ron Fenech, president and CEO of Keystone, the largest employer in Elkhart County. He said Keystone is doing this not only for plant safety reasons but because it’s the right thing to do.
The right thing to do is to fire people for what they do in their personal lives? Did you sack all the alcoholics while you were at it?
The “safety reasons” argument is pretty thin. All drug testing does is indicate that you have used drugs; it does not indicate that you are currently under the influence. A worker could do cocaine or speed on a Friday and be completely sober by the time Monday rolls around, yet the drug test would consider this sober person a “safety risk” because he partied on the weekend. The same exact argument can be made for alcohol; it blunts the senses and leads to “safety risks”. But we don’t go firing employees on Monday because they got sloshed at a kegger on Friday.
The situation is far worse with respect to marijuana. A person could have taken a toke off of a joint at a concert while on vacation a month ago, and they would be fired as a “safety risk” for testing positive today. When you consider that alcohol is far more addictive and causes much more societal damage than marijuana, you can see that the “right thing to do” has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with demonizing drug users.
“There was some feedback from the police that one of our plants was having troubles with drugs. We responded to this,” Fenech said. “It’s up to us as an employer to deal with it. I think we’re trying to do as much as any RV company in the country.”
So you really had no other reason to believe a third of your workforce was using drugs other than a police tip, huh? No massive increase in safety violations, no rash of accidents, no sudden drop in productivity — nothing to indicate that your plant was anything but running efficiently while a third of your workforce is on drugs. Gosh, it would seem then that drug use really wasn’t much of a problem at the plant. Your management noticed no problems. Your employees reported no problems. Only when cops asked for your help in furthering their Drug War agenda did you even recognize that your employees were using drugs.
Now, before someone chimes in with: “But do you really want someone who’s high to be working on a manufacturing line?” let me say this, unequivocably: You should not be high while working. It’s rude to your co-workers, dangerous to yourself and others, and really kills a decent buzz.
But the way to prevent people from being high at work is through observation and supervision at a personal level. Don’t test someone’s urine, hair, or blood to see what they may have been doing at the Dave Matthews Band concert last month; look them in the eyes to see if they’re bloodshot. Watch for teeth grinding or excessive twitching or irritability. Institute some form of random performance testing. In other words, be a manager. Managers don’t test people for alcohol; they look for tell-tale signs — alcohol breath, slurred speech, clumsiness, shoddy performance, frequent absenteeism, and so on. As long as people show up to work and do their job well, we don’t care if they drink a six-pack at home on their own time. The same concept should be applied to drugs, marijuana at least.
(Don’t even come back with “But marijuana / cocaine / speed is illegal!”, unless you can tell me how companies should be investigating and firing employees for domestic abuse, speeding tickets, DUI’s, tax evasion, or any other illegal activity they may be involved in after hours…)
