TTC WORKER'S DEATH ON JOB SPURS CALLS FOR DRUG TESTS

A transit worker who died in a subway tunnel accident last
year was high on marijuana when the work car he was driving crashed,
according to a high-ranking Toronto Transit Commission source.

The information, contained in a report to be made public later this
month, the source said, is expected to amplify calls for drug and
alcohol testing that have surfaced after a TTC bus driver was charged
with drunk driving this week.

The April, 2007, accident that killed Tony Almeida, a 38-year-old
father of two, shook the transit agency and gave renewed impetus to a
wide-ranging safety review.

That review had already put drug and alcohol testing on TTC
management's agenda before this week's incident.

Mr. Almeida was crushed to death in an early morning crash north of
Eglinton station.

An improperly stowed piece of equipment on his work car caught the
side of the tunnel wall and the vehicle derailed. The TTC later
pleaded guilty to Ministry of Labour charges of failing to maintain a
safe workplace and paid a $250,000 fine.

Adam Giambrone, the city councillor who chairs the TTC, would not
confirm the results of the investigation, but acknowledged that he
expected the report to prompt calls for drug and alcohol testing.

"We take these issues very seriously," Mr. Giambrone said, adding
that, although he had concerns about the privacy issues it raises, he
would not rule out the idea.

Bob Kinnear, leader of Local 113 of the Amalgamated Transit Union that
represents 9,000 TTC employees, said he could not comment on the
report on Mr. Almeida's death without seeing the document. But he said
he would fight any move to force his workers to submit to drug and
alcohol testing.

"They're out to lunch," he said of TTC management, calling the idea an
invasion of privacy and vowing to instruct all TTC workers to refuse
to submit to any such tests.

Mr. Kinnear said TTC management told him two weeks ago in writing that
this month they would be proposing drug and alcohol testing to the
commission of city councillors that oversees the TTC.

Drug and alcohol testing for transit operators is mandated by law in
the United States, but has been contentious when raised in Canada both
for intercity bus drivers and in other industries.

"I'm telling you right now that it is not going to happen as far as
I'm concerned," Mr. Kinnear said, arguing that testing would not stop
such an incident from happening again.

Mr. Kinnear, whose union was blamed for a wildcat walkout in 2006 and
for a surprise legal strike in April of this year, said there would
not be a strike to fight the tests.

In the latest case, the TTC said yesterday the driver charged with
impaired driving would be fired, although Mr. Kinnear said the union
is obliged to take up his case.

Mr. Giambrone said bus drivers must sign in and pick up a fare box at
their bus garage before heading out on the road and, at that point,
TTC employees are supposed to spot anyone who looks impaired, or
simply too tired or ill to drive. He said a handful of TTC employees
are caught showing up for work intoxicated each year.

The TTC and its union are currently in arbitration after the union
rejected a contract offer and went on a surprise weekend strike at the
end of April, only to be legislated back to work by the province.