my unions help was the last thing i needed

my husband drives new vehicles onto rail cars for shipment. he does not have a cdl lisence, but is covered under the teamsters national master agreement. he was involved in an accident that was not his fault, and can be proven not his fault, and was tested for drug use after the addicent. the other party involved was not tested, both vehicles were totalled, and both drivers were injured. he sighned a paper given the compnay the right to test him under the teamster agreement, and wrote under protest. the teamnsters substamce abuse policy states that under reasonable cause testing, that blood and urine must be taken. if the blood test in negative but the urine test is positive, the umployee is given substance abuse treatment, referred to an mro for evaluation, and subject to return to duty testing and random followup testing. since they did not take a blood test, they only had a positive urine test, for marijuana in his system. he had only worked for two hours before the accident, and it is alos in the contract, that there must be unquestionable evidence of possesing or doing drugs on compnay property, or equipment on compnay time in order to fire someone. police and ambulance personell were on the scene, and they never produced any evidence against hime other than the urine test. my husband was at that time a daily abuser of marijuana, and has been told by his re-hab counslers that it can stay in some persons system for up to 30 days, even though its effects wear off in 2 to 4 hours. my husband was a 15 year employee of this company, never had a reprimand, never missed a day or came in late in 15 years. he never on any occasion did drugs or drink at work. he was tested under the dot federal regulations, which are the same as the national agreement, and the companies own drug policy. however, both the union and the compnay now contend that since he has no cdl lisence, that these policies do not apply to him. how can they test someone under one policy, make his sign a statment that he was being tested under this policy, and then not be forced to adhere to these policys when they are in is favor with regards to consequenses for failing a drug test. none of the conseqenses under these policies result in firing on a first offence. because the union representitves had on another occasion up-help a similar incident with another driver, they said in the hearing that he was passed practice. just because they did not defend another person correctly, does that make this right? we have asked the union to take this to a higher arbitation board because it deals with contractual policy, they have refused, and just keep saying he is not a truck driver! if this is correct, and the employees at this company have no drug policy, what gave the compnay the right to test him to begin with. the previous compnay did not have this right. since they could not get together with the union on a local rider, the union had always said they could only test for pre-employment. when this company took over, there was still no local rider, and according to the union locals no drug policy, so why can this company test when the other could not? also under the national agreement, certain time frames apply to hearings ect on discharge cases. it states that on a discharge without a prior waring letter, that a hearing must be held and a decision rendered in 30 days from the date of discharge. my husbands first hearing was not until 62 days after his discharge. when asked about this, we have never got an answer. in the hearing, the only defense the union brought up was the work record, why didn't they bring all of these other things up if they were doing their best to represent him. i feel very strongly that my husband as been discriminated against by the compnay and the union. we have asked for further hearings, and they just say your not a truck driver, we have no further recourse. with mike being out of work, we feally cannot afford to hire an attorney outright, even though everyone we have talked to even some of the union attorneys say we have valid points. what can we do from here? i have witness statements copies of the dot regulations, copies of the companies drug policy, and many witness statements along with alot a research on this, but the union wont even look at it.

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You need to find an attorney to help you. The union and the employer refuse to deal with you, and your husband has lost his job. They will perhaps listen if they think that you are serious. Call the local bar association to get a referral to a attorney who deals in employmen and union issues. Many refferal panel attorneys offer a free or very low cost initial consultation. Take your information and see if you have a case. I also hope that your husband is getting serious drug counseling to prevent this kind of thing happening again.