DOWNTOWN FERNIE Th urs da y , J u l y 1 1 , 2 0 1 3
FERNIE
Serving the South Country, Fernie, Sparwood, Elkford since 1898
FREE
Sundays & Wednesdays July 7 to August 25
Mudd, sweat and tears, oh my!
Hikers survive bear attack- Page 3 SOUTH COUNTRY
Man found in Bull River - Page 4 ARTS
Author hits Fernie Library - Page 18
SPORT
Kids enjoy tennis tournament - Page 19
BEAR CORNER
Recent wildlife sightings - Page 20
The muddy five km and 10 km courses had over 350 people crawling, climbing, carrying and dragging themselves through many obstacles at the Fernie Alpine Resort, July 6. Turn to page 2 for the story and more photos. Photo by T. Hynd
United Steelworkers Union Local 9346 file appeal in light of Supreme Court ruling By Tamara Hynd Free Press Staff
T
he United Steel workers Local 9346 has filed an appeal in front of the BC Court of Appeals on May 23 regarding the arbitrator’s decision to deny a temporary order to stop Teck from performing random drug and alcohol tests on workers at the Elk
Valley mines. On June 14, the Supreme Court ruled it was reasonable for a New Brunswick labour arbitration board to strike down a policy at Irving Pulp & Paper Ltd. mill that forced all workers in “safety-sensitive positions” to undergo random alcohol tests, with about 10 per cent of the work force tested a year. “The Supreme Court’s
decision on the Irving case explained that just being a safety sensitive work place does not equal reasonable cause,” said Alex Hanson, USW Local 9346 president. “We’re going to the BC Court of Appeal because we don’t believe Teck has reasonable just cause for random testing. The ruling covers random alcohol testing and the Supreme Court made big
generalizations for random drug testing. Alcohol testing can prove impairment yet drug testing only proves past usage. The BC privacy laws were created to protect workers rights and prevent abuse.” “The ruling in question does not deal with Teck’s operations,” said Chris Stannell, Senior Communications Specialist for Teck Resources
Limited. “Teck places a high value on the safety of their employees and has developed a random testing that balances privacy rights with safety of employees in a safety sensitive work environment. We have carefully reviewed the Irving decision and the facts in our case are significantly different.” Continued on page 5