IBEW Targets Emerging Trend in Construction

March 2003 IBEW Journal

Drug testing has become a condition of employment for an increasing number of construction workers. But the reality for many laboratories often means a test today and clearance for work in three days.

So one Local 474, Memphis, Tennessee, signatory electrical contractor has opened a new business that helps get members to construction jobs faster with a higher quality drug test. And in the process, a new laboratory set a higher standard for wages and benefits in a largely nonunion lab industry in Memphis. Local 474 leaders said Sure-Test Laboratory is the only union drug testing lab in the country.

"When we refer a member to a contractor, he has to wait up to three days sometimes to get results," said Local 474 Assistant Business Manager Mike Haley. "But at the new lab, a negative result means he can go to work the next day. Sometimes that means a lot to an employer. He needs a job done right now, not in three days."

Drug testing is mandatory for workers on most federal projects and many of the larger ones, Haley said. Contractors have incentives to require testing because workers’ compensation premiums are lowered as a result. Plus, many employers want to be able to promote a "drug-free workplace" to their customers. Fully half of Local 474’s electrical contracting jobs require drug testing on initial employment. Rodney Criner, owner of Criner Electric and co-owner of Sure-Test, recognized the emerging drug testing industry as a business opportunity. With state-of-the-art equipment, training and techniques, Sure-Test is among a small number of federally certified drug testing labs in the country.

The lab’s seven workers were quickly organized into a unit of Local 474. Their first contract, signed last November, gained Sure-Test workers a 20 percent raise and enhanced standard of living benefits, such as paid holidays, vacation, sick leave, health insurance and pension plans. The company estimates that with increased business, the lab could employ up to 150 workers.

IBEWCURRENTS

(Left) Local 474 members at work in the conformation lab at Sure-Test in Memphis, said to be the only union drug testing lab in the country. From left are Neal Jackson and Gary Smith (background) and Pat Weldon and Lori Irvin (foreground).