This congressman says ending marijuana testing could solve labor disputes

An Oregon congressman claims that ending marijuana testing could help resolve mounting disputes between railroad workers and their employees that could potentially affect the entire country.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer discussed the issue in C-SPAN’s Washington Journal on Thursday, saying the deal with the railroad workers was “welcome news” and that the “situation the workers faced was truly unbearable.”

While workers have reached a temporary agreement between unions and railway companies, they remain angry at their working conditions. Over the years, workers have lost their benefits and job security, creating a tense environment that has led to supply chain problems.

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Blumenauer said getting rid of mandatory drug testing could be part of the solution. This would encourage more people to apply for these positions and give some job security to their employees. “Many of these supply chain shortcomings are people not qualifying for the jobs because they have used marijuana at some point in the past six weeks, which doesn’t affect their ability to do their jobs, but disregards them “, he said.

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The threat of a strike was of great concern to commuters and people across the country, prompting President Biden to issue a statement on the matter.

Under Illinois policy, a railroad workers’ strike would wreak havoc, freeze 30% of US freight shipments and cost the US economy about $2 billion a day. It would have stopped Amtrak and Metra trains from operating and affected millions of people.

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There is currently no way to test marijuana use in the workplace. Drug testing cannot distinguish whether an employee is using marijuana at home or at work and provides a blanket test that limits people’s behavior outside of the workplace. The only way to solve this problem would be to develop a completely new test.