I work at Colonial Williamsburg as a conservator and last week I attended
a training session for supervisors concerning the new mandatory
drug-testing policy which goes into effect on Jan. 1st.
 
I certainly did not hear a single compelling reason why this policy is
being put into place now. There has been no major drug incident which has
been revealed to us - just the fear of one. Colonial Williamsburg has had
a "For-Cause" policy in place for several years now. This policy tested
those employees with public-safety related jobs (security officers, bus
drivers) and it had a procedure for testing employees who displayed poor
job performance and had exhibited some behaviors which could be seen as
a type of "probable cause". We were told that they felt that this policy
was a failure becuse superviors weren't turning employees in. The
overall rationale for the new policy is that the families and visitors who
come to the museum should expect a healthy, drug-free, environment and
that a major drug incident could have a detrimental economic impact on
visitation. Since there seems to be little evidence of a serious problem
here I personally wonder about the veracity of that rationale.
 
Several employees have brought up the constituional concerns which many
people on Museum-L have raised. The response was that current case law
makes this perfectly legal as a mandatory condition of employment - the
phrase which was used to us was, "The constitutional concerns may apply
to the government, but not to businesses, we are not the government..."
 
I personally find it ironic that statements like that are being made in
one of the birthplaces of the American Revolution...I wonder if Thomas
Jefferson, George Washington, Patrick Henry, and James Madison would
agree with the validity of such a corporate tryanny?
 
Now I am sure that there is a very compelling reason for my institution
to institute this policy and the attendent expenses of testing 3000
employees - and from the way the policy and the consent form have been
written I see the heavy hands of lawyers all over the formultion of this
policy...
 
Many co-workers whom I have talked to are simply confused as to why this
is happening, and, in the absence of an extremely compelling reason...
speculation abounds.
 
The issues involved in this are complex and very personal. One of the
core values of being an American is the idea that no one, whether it be a
Nation or a small group of people, can force you to do something against
your will - to surrender your "inalienable rights". Many individuals will
say, "what's the problem if you have nothing to hide?" and many other
equally earnest individuals will say, "why do they have a right to force
me to undergo a procedure without cause or lose my job?".
 
I think that the dialogue on this issue goes to the heart of our concepts
of freedom and privacy. It is one thing to speculate upon this - it is
quite another order of reality to experience it.
 
Dave
 
David Harvey
Conservator of Metals & Arms
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
P.O. Box 1776
Williamsburg , VA 213187-1776
voice:    804-220-7039
fax:      804-221-8907
e-mail:   [log in to unmask]