Commentary from Senator Sakamoto

April 9, 2007

Drug Testing Works for Carpenter Union

The Hawaii Carpenter (April 2007) published an editorial supporting drug-testing in the workplace.  Twenty years ago the carpenters union was the first trade union in Hawaii to negotiate a drug testing policy for its members.  Since then, the percentage of "dirty" (positive) drug testing dropped sharply, from as high as thirty to forty percent back then down to five percent today.  Ronald Taketa, the union's financial secretary, notes that "over time, more and more employers saw the value in creating a drug free workplace, and today, unionized construction is one of the best monitored, cleanest industries in Hawaii."  The experience of the carpenters union has something that others can learn from.