A Union heavy equipment operator makes 80K -100K a year and he probably gets drug tested by the union or his employer. But union workers will try to get non-union large jobs shut down all of the time so I would take their complaints with a grain of salt.

But why the hell were there occupants within the danger area of a demo in progress? That is the fault of the governmental jurisdiction. They are equally responsible for the deaths occurring.

You don't have lunch in the radius of falling debris.

The only difference between a get-high union guy and a non-union guy is the non-union guy is still on parole ... I have seen competent union and non-union crews for 13 years as a licensed contractor. I was one of the few contractors invited to bid on stone veneered highway bridges and have bidded and worked a lot of union or prevailing wage jobs -- been around heavy equipment for years.

This guy made a fatal mistake. In this state you need a CDL "A" and a certification from a training school or a union apprentice program to get hired to work an excavator for large construction projects or demos.

Maybe, you could find a job in a gravel pit or coal pit loading trucks without them -- can't do too much damage there.