For the second time this year, legal action by the Brotherhood of Maintenance Way Employees has halted suspicious medical testing by one of the nation's largest railroads.

The latest episode involves Union Pacific, which sent a mobile lab into Ramsey County April 10 to conduct a battery of medical tests on track and bridge workers in the Twin Cities.

Charles Collins, a St. Paul attorney representing the union, said the testing violated Minnesota laws designed to protect workers from the risks of such mobile labs and their 'cattle call' testing, which is becoming increasingly routine at worksites nationwide.

In February, both the Maintenance Way Employees and the federal Equal Employment Opportunities Commission sued the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad to halt secret genetic screening of workers suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome.

BNSF has since backpedaled furiously. In April, the railroad agreed to destroy results from employees already tested, to halt the blood tests and future genetic screening, to recognize any testing as a mandatory subject of bargaining, and to support legislation that would make such genetic testing illegal.

UP lined up blood tests and more
An 'optional' blood test was one procedure Union Pacific planned in the Twin Cities. 'Given our experience with Burlington Northern, that made us real nervous,' Collins said.

But just as bothersome, he said, was that the other tests UP had scheduled for as many as 1,000 workers in the state - a respirator fit test, a urine test, and a hearing test - were taking place in the hectic conditions of a mobile lab.

'They've done company physicals for decades,' Collins said. 'They've done respirator tests at different times. They've done hearing evaluations at different times. The normal practice is to conduct them at clinics, and with some notice.

'This time, they just sent in a van set up to do all of this stuff at once. They just herd guys through, get all these tests done, bam bam bam. Just run them through four or five at a time, load up the van and move on.'

Questionable accuracy
Collins said that, given the sensitivity of medical information, mobile vans should be held to the same medical and ethical standards as a health clinic. 'The medical community ought to be watching these things, but they're not,' he said.

The result, he said, is increased problems with sanitation, accuracy and privacy. 'With all the rush going on, there's legitimate concern about unreliable work being done. Each guy should be handled individually. But there is paperwork everywhere, samples everywhere. It's easy to imagine samples and records getting crossed up.

'If the results can determine your rights under workers comp, or cost you your job, that's a problem.'

Railroad backs down
More than two dozen UP workers already had gone through the medical van April 10 before Collins reached a judge to hear his request for a temporary restraining order.

What actually blocked the testing was straightforward, Collins said: The railroad and the company operating the mobile van - Continuum Health Management Solutions of San Diego, Calif. - were failing to comply with state laws enacted in the mid-'90s to establish some safeguards for mobile testing.

In this case, Collins said, the testing company had not registered with the state Department of Health and did not have a licensed Minnesota physician supervising the tests, as required. In addition, Union Pacific threatened to fire anyone who refused, Collins said, but failed to give workers 14 days' notice that the tests would include a drug screening, which also is required by Minnesota law.

Given the evidence, Union Pacific lawyers in Omaha, Neb., voluntarily agreed to 'cease and desist' during a phone conference with Ramsey County Judge Paul Van de North.

'We do have a law in Minnesota that has to be obeyed,' Collins said. 'If they want to do the legitimate things, we want it done right.'

Collins said he expects mobile testing to become even more of an issue. 'We're going to be seeing these things everywhere. If a company can do it for 10 bucks a head cheaper, they will. We've got to stay awake and pay attention.'

This article was written for the May 2 issue of The Union Advocate newspaper. Used by permission. The Union Advocate is the official publication of the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org

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