[699]*699SEYMOUR, Circuit Judge.
Local 2-286 of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union, AFL-CIO filed suit for declaratory and injunc-tive relief against Amoco Oil Company pursuant to section 301 of the Labor Management and Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 185 (1982) (LMRA). The Union sought to enjoin Amoco’s implementation of a drug testing program at its Salt Lake City refinery pending the outcome of arbitration over Amoco’s right, under the parties’ Collective Bargaining Agreement, to unilaterally impose the testing program. The district court granted the requested relief and Amoco appeals. We affirm.
I.
Amoco has operated its Salt Lake City refinery for over seventy years, and has had a collective bargaining relationship with the Union for approximately forty years. The Agreement in force at the time the Union filed this suit contains broad grievance and arbitration provisions,1 as well as a management rights clause.2 Article 21 of the Agreement, which addresses health and safety issues, establishes a joint labor-management committee for “the purpose of considering, inspecting, investigating and reviewing health and safety conditions and practices.” Rec., vol. I, doc. 1, Ex. A at 55. The committee is responsible for making constructive recommendations “including but not limited to the implementation of corrective measures to eliminate unhealthy and unsafe conditions and practices and to improve existing health and safety conditions and practices.” Id. Article 21 further provides that Amoco shall continue “its existing industrial hygiene program,” id. at 56, and that Amoco shall pay for physical and medical tests “at a frequency and extent determined ... by the joint committee.” Id. at 54. Finally, Article 21 specifies that “[a]ny dispute arising with respect to the interpretation or application” of its provisions is subject to the Agreement’s grievance and arbitration procedures. Id. at 56.
In May 1986, Amoco notified the Union that it wanted to implement a drug testing program at the Salt Lake City refinery. The Union objected to Amoco’s proposal and responded with a counterproposal, but four months of negotiations failed to produce agreement about the nature and scope of the proposed testing program. Amoco therefore decided to implement a drug testing program unilaterally, and notified its employees by letter dated September 12, 1986, that it intended to do so thirty days hence.3 In broad outline, the program requires an annual test for those “[ejmploy-ees who, by the nature of their job, could pose an immediate safety risk to themselves, fellow employees, property, and/or the general public if working under the influence of drugs or alcohol.” Rec., vol. I, doc. 1, Ex. B. The program also provides for the random testing of any employee “who, in the judgment of management may be working under the influence of drugs and alcohol or whose work performance is [700]*700being adversely affected by the abuse of drugs and alcohol.” Id.
The Union filed a written grievance objecting to Amoco’s unilateral implementation of the new program. The grievance alleged that Amoco’s action violated various provisions of the Agreement, including Article 21, and it requested that the company postpone implementation of the program pending resolution of the grievance. Notwithstanding the Union’s request, Amoco implemented the policy, and ultimately denied the grievance. The Union then filed this action for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, and the district court ordered Amoco to show cause why a restraining order should not issue.
At a hearing during which the district court heard testimony and received evidence, both sides agreed that the underlying dispute was arbitrable and acknowledged that they were proceeding to arbitration as called for by their Agreement. They also agreed in large measure on the applicable law. They disagreed, however, on the application of the governing law to the instant case. Amoco argued that an injunction is precluded by the jurisdictional limitations on the issuance of injunctions imposed by the Norris-LaGuardia Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 101-115 (1982). Amoco further contended that the case falls outside the exception to Norris-LaGuardia set forth in Boys Markets v. Retail Clerks Union, 398 U.S. 235, 90 S.Ct. 1583, 26 L.Ed.2d 199 (1970), and refined in Buffalo Forge v. United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO, 428 U.S. 397, 96 S.Ct. 3141, 49 L.Ed.2d 1022 (1976), construing those cases as holding that injunctive relief is precluded by the Act if a dispute can be resolved through arbitration and the parties are proceeding with arbitration. Amoco acknowledged that courts may properly enjoin employer actions which threaten the arbitral process, but argued that implementation of the testing program would not make arbitration a “hollow formality” by irreparably injuring the Union’s employees. The Union vigorously disagreed with these contentions.
Based on the evidence before it, the district court concluded that the Boys Markets exception was applicable because Amoco’s action threatened the integrity of the arbitral process and equitable principles favored issuance of a status quo injunction. The court specifically found that the Union employees would suffer irreparable injury absent a status quo injunction because they potentially would be “humiliated,” “frustrated,” “stigmatized,” and “embarrassed” by the testing program. Rec., vol. III, at 159. The court concluded that the Union’s position was sufficiently sound to prevent arbitration from being a futile endeavor, and hence that the Union had satisfied the criterion of likelihood of success on the merits. The court also determined that the balance of harms favored issuance of an injunction and that the public interest would be served by a status quo injunction. Consequently, the court enjoined Amoco from implementing its drug testing program pending the outcome of arbitration.
Amoco raises essentially the same arguments on appeal. Its primary contention is that the district court lacked jurisdiction to issue an injunction because the case does not fit the Boys Markets exception to the Norris-LaGuardia Act. Amoco also asserts that the district court’s finding of irreparable injury is neither legally sufficient to justify the injunction in this case, nor supported by the record. Finally, Amoco challenges the court’s assessment that the public interest favors issuance of the injunction.
II.
Amoco’s jurisdictional challenge presents us with a question of first impression in this circuit: whether Boys Markets injunctions may issue to enjoin employer breaches of collective bargaining agreements, and if so, under what circumstances. Our inquiry does not proceed through uncharted terrain, however. A majority of circuits have addressed these issues and have established helpful and, for the most part, well-settled reference points. See, e.g., Aluminum Workers Int’l v. Consoli[701]*701dated Aluminum Corp., 696 F.2d 437 (6th Cir.1982); Local Lodge No. 1266 v. Panoramic Corp., 668 F.2d 276 (7th Cir.1981); United Steelworkers v. Fort Pitt Steel Casting, 598 F.2d 1273 (3d Cir.1979); Amalgamated Transit Union, Div. 1384 v. Greyhound Lines, Inc., 529 F.2d 1073 (9th Cir.) (Greyhound I), vacated and remanded, 429 U.S. 807, 97 S.Ct. 43, 50 L.Ed.2d 68 (1976), rev’d, 550 F.2d 1237 (9th Cir.1977) (Greyhound II), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 837, 98 S.Ct. 127, 54 L.Ed.2d 99 (1977); Lever Bros. Co. v. International Chemical Workers Union, Local 217, 554 F.2d 115 (4th Cir.1976); Hoh v. Pepsico, 491 F.2d 556 (2d Cir.1974).
Understanding the role of the judiciary and the proper use of injunctions in resolving labor disputes governed by collective bargaining agreements requires the consideration of several fundamental policies embedded in our national labor laws. The peaceful resolution of labor disputes through voluntary arbitration constitutes the overarching concern of national labor policy. Indeed, “[tjhere is no more fundamental policy in our national labor laws.” Consolidated Aluminum, 696 F.2d at 441. See, e.g., 29 U.S.C. 173(d) (1982); Nolde Brothers, Inc. v. Local 358, Bakery & Confectionery Workers, 430 U.S. 243, 253, 255, 97 S.Ct. 1067, 1073, 1074, 51 L.Ed.2d 300 (1977); Steelworkers Trilogy (United Steelworkers v. American Manufacturing Co., 363 U.S. 564, 80 S.Ct. 1343, 4 L.Ed.2d 1403 (1960); United Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S. 574, 80 S.Ct. 1347, 4 L.Ed.2d 1409 (1960); United Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 80 S.Ct. 1358, 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 (1960)).
Both the Labor Management Relations Act and the Norris-LaGuardia Act contribute to the advancement of this policy. Section 301(a) of the LMRA grants district courts jurisdiction to enforce, “contracts between an employer and a labor organization representing employees in an industry affecting commerce....” 29 U.S.C. § 185(a). This jurisdictional grant permits federal judicial enforcement of collective bargaining agreements and thereby encourages their use. See Boys Markets, 398 U.S. at 242, 245, 90 S.Ct. at 1588, 1589. The Norris-LaGuardia Act broadly prohibits the issuance of injunctions in labor disputes. Its policy against judicial interference in such disputes, see Boys Markets, 398 U.S. at 252, 90 S.Ct. at 1593; Buffalo Forge, 428 U.S. at 410-11, 96 S.Ct. at 3149; Jacksonville Bulk Terminals, Inc. v. International Longshoremen’s Ass’n, 457 U.S. 702, 707-21, 102 S.Ct. 2672, 2677-85, 73 L.Ed.2d 327 (1982), is rooted in a concern for “fosterpng] the growth and viability of labor organizations,” Boys Markets, 398 U.S. at 252, 90 S.Ct. at 1593, but it also encourages parties to work out their differences without judicial involvement. See Consolidated Aluminum, 696 F.2d at 441.
Although each in its own way promotes the peaceful resolution of labor disputes through voluntary arbitration, the jurisdictional grant of the LMRA and the jurisdictional limitations of Norris-LaGuardia often conflict. The accommodation of these conflicting policies has been left to the courts. Boys Markets, 398 U.S. at 251, 90 S.Ct. at 1592. The Supreme Court has created a broad framework to guide lower courts in assessing how best to accommodate these interests when they conflict. In Boys Markets, the Court recognized an exception to the anti-injunction provisions of Norris-LaGuardia when an employer brings suit under section 301(a) of the LMRA to enforce a union’s contractual obligation to arbitrate grievances rather than strike over them. The exception was necessary because the “unavailability of equitable relief in the arbitration context presented] a serious impediment to the congressional policy favoring the voluntary establishment of a mechanism for the peaceful resolution of labor disputes....” Boys Markets, 398 U.S. at 253, 90 S.Ct. at 1593-94.
Six years later, the Court in Buffalo Forge refined the holding of Boys Markets by clarifying that it applied only to those situations in which the labor dispute precipitating the strike is subject to arbitration. The Court emphasized that the rationale underlying Boys Markets was to protect [702]*702the arbitral process from being frustrated and to ensure that the parties honored their bargains. Buffalo Forge, 428 U.S. at 407, 96 S.Ct. at 3147. This rationale does not apply, the Court reasoned, when the underlying dispute is not subject to mandatory arbitration procedures, for then a “strike ha[s] neither the purpose or the effect of denying or evading an obligation to arbitrate or of depriving the employer of its bargain.” Id. at 408, 96 S.Ct. at 3148.
Boys Markets and Buffalo Forge both involved employers seeking to enjoin employees from striking allegedly in violation of a no-strike clause. Numerous circuit courts have concluded that the principles of these cases are equally applicable to analyzing whether injunctive relief is appropriate to restrain employers from acting so as to undermine the arbitration process.4 See, e.g., Consolidated Aluminum, 696 F.2d at 441; Panoramic, 668 F.2d at 280; Fort Pitt, 598 F.2d at 1278; Greyhound II, 550 F.2d at 1238; Lever Bros., 554 F.2d at 120. We agree with these courts and hold that Boys Markets injunctions are available to enjoin employer breaches of collective bargaining agreements which threaten the ar-bitral process.
Amoco does not dispute the availability of injunctive relief against employer breaches, as a general proposition. As it points out in its brief, however, the circuits have employed different methods for determining whether a status quo injunction case fits within the principles announced in Boys Markets and Buffalo Forge. The two primary approaches were developed by the Ninth and Fourth Circuits. See Panoramic, 668 F.2d at 282-83; Cantor, Buffalo Forge and Injunctions Against Employer Breaches of Collective Bargaining Agreements, 1980 Wis.L.Rev. 247, 268-74. The Ninth Circuit in Greyhound II, 550 F.2d at 1238, construed Buffalo Forge as generally limiting the availability of injunc-tive relief under Boys Markets to those situations in which the employer expressly promises to maintain the status quo. We have no such promise in this case. The court acknowledged in Greyhound II the appropriateness of inferring a promise to maintain the status quo if necessary to prevent frustration of the arbitral process, but it reasoned that such circumstances would be rare because employer actions generally do not interfere with arbitration. Id. at 1238-39.
The approach adopted by the Fourth Circuit in Lever Brothers, 554 F.2d at 122-23, by contrast, dispenses with the need for distinguishing between express and implied promises, and instead focuses on the effect the employer’s action will have on the ability of the arbitrator to “return the parties substantially to the status quo ante.” Id. at 123. This approach directly considers whether the employer’s action will make the arbitral process a “hollow formality.” It is ultimately consistent with the Ninth Circuit’s approach because “once it is conceded that a duty to preserve the status quo pending arbitration may be implied,” Panoramic, 668 F.2d at 282, the dispositive question under Greyhound II also becomes whether the action will frustrate the arbitral process. We find the Fourth Circuit position preferable, because we believe it more accurately embodies the rationale underlying the Boys Markets exception. It also has the advantage of being more straightforward. We thus join the Third, Fourth, and Seventh Circuits in adopting the frustration-of-arbitration analysis as the standard in this circuit.5 [703]*703See Nursing Home & Hospital Union No. 434 v. Sky Vue Terrace, Inc., 759 F.2d 1094, 1098 (3d Cir.1985) (Sky Vue); Lever Brothers, 554 F.2d at 122-23; Panoramic, 668 F.2d at 282-83.
Under Boys Markets, a court must also satisfy itself that the “ ‘ordinary principles of equity’ ” support the issuance of injunctive relief. Boys Markets, 398 U.S. at 254, 90 S.Ct. at 1594 (quoting Sinclair Refining Co. v. Atkinson, 370 U.S. 195, 228, 82 S.Ct. 1328, 1346, 8 L.Ed.2d 440 (1962) (Brennan, J., dissenting)). Thus, in addition to establishing that the dispute is subject to mandatory arbitration under the labor contract, id,., and that the arbitrable dispute is the underlying dispute and not a collateral one, Buffalo Forge, 428 U.S. 408-11, 96 S.Ct. at 3148-49, the moving party must show that it will suffer irreparable injury, that the balance of hardships favors it, and that it has a probability of success on the merits, Boys Markets, 398 U.S. at 254, 90 S.Ct. at 1594; Panoramic, 668 F.2d at 283. If all of these requirements are satisfied, the proper accommodation of the various conflicting national labor policies will not be undercut by the issuance of an injunction to maintain the status quo. We now consider whether these requirements are met in the instant case.6
III.
We review a district court’s grant or denial of a preliminary injunction for abuse of discretion. Lundgrin v. Claytor, 619 F.2d 61, 63 (10th Cir.1980); Tri-State Generation v. Shoshone River Power, Inc., 805 F.2d 351, 354 (10th Cir.1986). The abuse of discretion standard applies in the context of Boys Markets injunctions as well. See Lever Brothers, 554 F.2d at 120; Panoramic, 668 F.2d at 289; cf. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers v. Missouri-Kansas-Texas Ry., 363 U.S. 528, 535, 80 S.Ct. 1326, 1330, 4 L.Ed.2d 1379 (1960) (M-K-T Railway). This standard of review requires that we carefully examine the district court’s exercise of its discretion, but “we may not ... substitute our own judgment for that of the trial court.” Tri-State Generation, 805 F.2d at 354-55; see Roland Machinery Co. v. Dresser Indus., 749 F.2d 380, 390 (7th Cir.1984). In addition, we must consider whether the court below relied on clearly erroneous fact findings, or made any clear errors of law. See Hartford House, Ltd. v. Hallmark Cards, Inc., 846 F.2d 1268, 1270 (10th Cir.) (“Unless the district court abuses its discretion, commits an error of law, or is clearly erroneous in its preliminary factual findings, the appellate court may not set aside the injunction.”), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 109 S.Ct. 260, 102 L.Ed.2d 248 (1988).7
The parties agree that their dispute over Amoco’s right to unilaterally implement a drug testing program is arbitrable, and they do not contend that this dispute is a collateral one rather than the underlying dispute.8 We therefore turn immediately to consider the district court’s assessment of the relevant traditional principles of equity.
One of the criteria for injunctive relief is likelihood of success on the merits. Applying this factor in the traditional manner, however, would require courts to inquire into the merits of the dispute and encroach on the role of the arbitrator, a result clearly eschewed by the Supreme Court in Buffalo Forge, 428 U.S. at 410-411, 96 S.Ct. at 3149. See also Consolidated Aluminum, 696 F.2d at 442 n. 2; Panoramic, 668 F.2d at 284-85. We therefore agree with those courts that have adopted the standard first enunciated by the Ninth Circuit in Greyhound I:
[704]*704“[A] plaintiff, without regard to whether he is the employer or the union, seeking to maintain the status quo pending arbitration pursuant to the principles of Boys Markets need only establish that the position he will espouse in arbitration is sufficiently sound to prevent the arbitration from being a futile endeavor. [There must be] a genuine dispute with respect to an arbitrable issue....”
Greyhound I, 529 F.2d at 1077-78. See Lever Bros., 554 F.2d at 120; Panoramic, 668 F.2d at 284-85; Consolidated Aluminum, 696 F.2d at 442 n. 2; see also Sky Vue, 759 F.2d at 1098 n. 3. But see, e.g., Hoh, 491 F.2d at 561 (criterion must mean “not simply some likelihood of success in compelling arbitration but in obtaining the award in aid of which the injunction is sought”).
We agree with the district court that the Union’s position is sufficiently sound to prevent arbitration from being a futile endeavor. It is not clear from the face of the Agreement that either the Union or Amoco will prevail in arbitration. To the extent Amoco claims it is entitled under the management rights clause to unilaterally implement its drug testing program, it confronts the Union’s contention that Article 21, the section dealing with health and safety matters, limits management’s prerogatives. Nor do any of the other provisions of the Agreement included in the appellate record decisively favor either party. The district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the Union satisfies the likelihood-of-success-on-the-merits requirement.
A party seeking a Boys Markets injunction must also establish that it will suffer irreparable injury absent injunctive relief. Boys Markets, 398 U.S. at 254, 90 S.Ct. at 1594. The nature of the required irreparable injury assumes a specific character in the context of status quo injunctions against employer breaches of collective bargaining agreements. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in M-K-T Railway, 363 U.S. at 534-35, 80 S.Ct. at 1330, courts have construed irreparable injury in this context as an injury that would undermine the integrity of the arbitration process by making an eventual award only an “empty victory.” See, e.g. Panoramic, 668 F.2d at 285-86, Lever Brothers, 554 F.2d at 122, Consolidated Aluminum, 696 F.2d at 443.
The irreparable injury inquiry thus coincides with the frustration-of-arbitration analysis used for determining the applicability of the Boys Markets exception. See Retail, Wholesale & Dept. Store Union Local 1034 v. Doxsee Food Corp., 650 F.Supp. 861, 865 (D.Del.1986). This coincidence often elevates the assessment of irreparable injury into the central inquiry in status quo injunction cases. See Consolidated Aluminum, 696 F.2d at 443. As have other courts, we merge these ideas into a single inquiry. See Panoramic, 668 F.2d at 286.
As we begin our analysis, it is helpful to describe in greater detail the nature of Amoco’s proposed drug testing program, which would subject its employees to testing in four circumstances. Employees would be tested whenever their “actions, demeanor, or behavior” prompt supervisory personnel to refer the employee to the medical department and medical personnel believe a drug test is appopriate. They also would be tested after “hazardous accidents or near-hazardous accidents,” at the discretion of management. All employees would be routinely tested during regularly scheduled annual physical examinations.9 Finally, an employee who tested positive in any of the above circumstances would be subject to follow-up testing.10 Rec., vol. III, at 9-10.
[705]*705Acknowledging that Amoco is entitled to test for cause, the Union focuses its challenge on the testing to be conducted at the annual physical examinations and the follow-up testing, both of which it believes constitute testing without cause. Of particular concern to the Union in this regard are the detection levels for positive results established by the proposed policy. These levels are unusually low in the case of alcohol and marijuana, according to evidence submitted by the Union, and positive test results for them would not correlate to the impairment of an individual at the time of testing. Rec., vol. I, doc. 4, Affidavit of Richard E. Collins; Rec., vol. III, at 44. Amoco’s manager of human resources at the Salt Lake City refinery conceded on cross-examination that traces of marijuana can remain in a person’s system long after its use. Id. at 127-28. The low detection levels of Amoco’s drug testing program, the Union contends, would result in the regulation of the private lives of its employees, regulation which exceeds Amoco’s legitimate interests as an employer. This potential intrusion into the employees’ private lives threatens to cause them stigmatization, humiliation, and damage to reputation. These injuries would be all the more grievous, the Union argues, because of the numerous familial relationships between its members, and the strong religious character of the community. Rec., vol. III, at 41, 74.
The majority of Amoco’s argument focuses on what types of potential injury are so irreparable as to threaten the integrity of the arbitral process.11 Amoco contends that because work-related drug and alcohol discipline cases are the “grist for the mill of grievance procedures and arbitration,” the arbitration process necessarily must afford adequate remedies to employees “enmeshed in a drug or alcohol” case. Relying on Panoramic, 668 F.2d at 285 n. 12, Amoco also urges that the type of harm alleged is legally insufficient to warrant injunctive relief. These arguments, which are variations on a single theme, present the question whether invasion of privacy, stigmatization, and humiliation qualify as irreparable injuries that threaten to frustrate the arbitral process. In addition, Amoco contends that the harm alleged by the Union is too speculative.
The Union replies that the stigmatization and humiliation resulting from the drug testing program’s invasion of privacy12 can support findings of irreparable injury because these injuries cannot be redressed by an arbitral award. The Union counters Amoco’s speculativeness charge by pointing to testimony before the district court concerning workers’ responses to the program.
In support of its primary argument, Amoco relies on two cases involving suits to enjoin the implementation of drug testing programs at two of its other refiner[706]*706ies.13 The district courts in both instances declined to issue the requested injunctive relief. In Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers, Local 6-10 v. Amoco Oil Co., 653 F.Supp. 300, 303 (D.N.D.1986) (OCAW, Local 6-10), the court concluded that irreparable injury would not result from Amoco’s implementation of its new drug policy because 1) the policy did not qualitatively alter existing company policies against the use of alcohol and drugs while working, or the possession of such substances on the refinery grounds; 2) affected employees could be “made whole” by reinstatement and backpay, and stigmatization did not constitute irreparable injury; and 3) the arbitration process itself would be “unaffected” by the company’s unilateral implementation of the program. The court in Oil Chemical & Atomic Workers, Local 2-124 v. Amoco Oil Co., 651 F.Supp. 1, 5 (Wyo.1986), while apparently acknowledging the possible stigmatization of employees, also concluded that reinstatement and backpay were adequate remedies. Neither of these decisions was appealed.
The Union relies heavily on an unpublished opinion from the district court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers System Council 4-9 and Local 563 v. Metropolitan Edison Co., CA No. 86-4426, 1986 WL 376 (E.D.Pa.1986). This opinion has no precedential value per se, but we find relevant the court’s conclusion that the invasion of privacy associated with drug testing, and resulting humiliation and damage to reputation, constitute irreparable injury.
Several other district court opinions have treated the drug testing issue in the Boys Markets context. Two opinions reach conclusions consistent with Metropolitan Edison. In Stove, Furnace & Allied Appli-canee Workers’ Int’l, Local 185 v. Weyerhaeuser Paper Co., 650 F.Supp. 431 (S.D.Ill.1986), the union contended that the testing program could in certain circumstances invade the privacy of its members and result in a “ ‘black mark’ on the[ir] personnel records.” Id. at 433. The court agreed, concluding that these contentions were sufficient to show irreparable injury. Id. at 434. See also International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers v. Florida Power & Light, 678 F.Supp. 257, 258 (S.D.Fla.1987).
In a third case, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1900 v. Potomac Electric Power Co., 634 F.Supp. 642 (D.D.C.1986), the court implied that implementation of a wide ranging drug testing program could result in irreparable injury. There, Potomac Electric unilaterally imposed a new drug testing regime. The court rejected the union’s allegations of injury resulting from potential invasions of privacy and unjustified discharges,14 because it found that the company’s in-court representations “guarantee that the scope of testing of PEPCO employees will remain essentially unchanged from the policy prior to March 13, 1986 pending an arbitral deci-sion....” Id. at 645. The court held that the postponement of the potentially broad application of the new rules removed the specter of irreparable injury, and the justification for a status quo injunction under the Boys Markets exception, because the only new injuries that could possibly result were not materially different than injuries possible under the old policy. The court’s reasoning suggests that it would have found irreparable injury and enjoined implementation of the new rules had the company been unwilling to postpone their implementation.
Contrary to the opinion in OCAW, Local 6-10, 653 F.Supp. at 303, we are convinced [707]*707that implementation of a drug testing program is qualitatively different than the existence of policies against the use and possession of drugs in the workplace. This is especially true where, as here, the program includes wide ranging testing without cause15 and utilizes low thresholds for positive results. The record indicates that because of the low detection levels selected by Amoco, an employee could test positive when his prior use of a drug or alcohol is not impairing his job performance. Rec., vol. I, doc. 4, Affidavit of Richard E. Collins; rec., vol. Ill, at 44. Consequently, the qualitative difference does not just threaten an incremental increase in damage to reputation, such as the increased penalties in Potomac Electric, it threatens to invade an employee’s privacy by disclosing information about his off-the-job conduct that is unrelated to his performance at work. The attenuation of the relationship between Amoco’s legitimate interests in implementing a drug testing program and the actual scope of the program makes the potential invasion of privacy especially egregious.
Moreover, even if we accept Amoco’s assurances of confidentiality, employee privacy remains threatened. An employee who tests positive at the low detection levels will be required either to enter a rehabilitation program, or to take thirty days off work. The record reflects that as a practical matter, the employee’s co-workers would know that he is attending a rehabilitation program, or would notice his absence when his shifts have to be filled. Id. at 67-68. Alternatively, an employee’s coworkers would learn of positive test results by virtue of the Union’s representation of the employee in a grievance proceeding. Id. at 67.
In light of the invasion of privacy threatened by Amoco’s testing program, and the potential for stigmatization and humiliation of its employees, we do not believe that an arbitral award of reinstatement and back-pay could make affected employees whole. These injuries would potentially be all the more severe because of the close-knit character of the employees and the fact that the predominant religion in the community proscribes the drinking of alcoholic beverages. Id. at 41 and 74. The consequences of revelations about drug or alcohol use could have long term consequences for a member of such a community. For these reasons, we are persuaded that the integrity of the arbitration process will be seriously undermined by Amoco’s unilateral implementation of the testing program. Once an employee’s reputation is sullied, we see no way that an arbitral award prohibiting the company from unilaterally implementing the drug testing program would provide relief. We thus agree with the district court that the invasion of privacy, stigmatization, and humiliation alleged by the Union constitute irreparable injuries that threaten the integrity of the arbitral process and adequately support the issuance of a status quo injunction.
We are aware that some courts have been reluctant to recognize every irreparable injury as a sufficient basis for issuing a status quo injunction. These courts have created a category of injuries that are considered irreparable, but not so irreparable that they undermine the integrity of the arbitral process. The court in Panoramic, for example, concluded that injuries frequently suffered by employees pending arbitration of their disputes, but “not compensated by the contract remedies (in contrast to tort damages) typically awarded in arbitration,” can not form the basis for injunctive relief. Panoramic, 668 F.2d at 285 n. 12. The types of injuries the court had in mind are the lost interest on earn[708]*708ings and expenses incurred by an employee improperly discharged and seeking other employment; the uncompensated injuries suffered by an employee on the job pending arbitration of a grievance over safety; and injuries resulting from an employer's unauthorized change in his employees’ vacation schedules, such as lost deposits, schedule changes for the family, and general inconvenience. See Payne, Enjoining Employers Pending Arbitration — From M-K-T to Greyhound and Beyond, 3 Ind. Rel.L.J. 169, 199 (1979); Cf. Consolidated Aluminum, 696 F.2d at 444-45 (“repossessions, foreclosures, and injury to credit rating” not the type of harm that threatens the integrity of the arbitral process). However, our review of the Supreme Court’s decision in M-K-T Railway, the source of the irreparable injury standard in the status quo injunction context, reinforces our conviction that the stigmatization and humiliation alleged here are injuries sufficient to support the issuance of a status quo injunction in this context.16
The Court in M-K-T Railway considered whether district courts may impose status quo obligations on employers as a condition for issuing no-strike injunctions in order to prevent irreparable injury to employees and thereby preserve the jurisdiction of the National Railroad Adjustment Board.17 In assessing whether the conditions imposed by the district court protected the jurisdiction of the board, the Court reasoned:
“The dispute out of which the judicial controversy arose does not merely concern rates of pay or job assignments, but rather involves the discharge of employees from positions long held and the dislocation of others from their homes. From the point of view of these employees, the critical point in the dispute may be when the change is made, for, by the time of the frequently long-delayed Board decision, it might well be impossible to make them whole in any realistic sense. If this be so, the action of the district judge, rather than defeating the Board’s jurisdiction, would operate to preserve that jurisdiction by preventing injury so irreparable that a decision of the Board in the unions’ favor would be but an empty victory.”
M-K-T Railway, 363 U.S. at 534, 80 S.Ct. at 1330 (emphasis added). Significantly, the Court’s discussion of irreparable injury indicates that it viewed the issue in a manner consistent with traditional concepts of irreparable injury. The Court in no way indicates that a higher threshold for such a finding should apply in the context of a [709]*709status quo injunction. Moreover, the language used by the Court to describe injuries it considered irreparable, the discharge of employees from long held positions and the dislocation of employees from their homes, strongly suggests that courts should use a wide focus in assessing the nature of the threatened injury, as well as adopt a broad view of what constitutes irreparable injury in this context. There seems no other way to account for the Court’s characterization of discharge and dislocation as irreparable given, for example, that reinstatement and backpay has traditionally been considered an adequate remedy for improper discharge. It is especially the collateral effects of being discharged from long held employment or being dislocated from one’s home that make it “impossible to make [employees] whole in any realistic sense.” Id.
Our holding does not undermine the framework established by the Supreme Court for accommodating Norris-LaGuar-dia’s policy against widespread judicial involvement in labor disputes to the LMRA’s provision permitting judicial enforcement of collective bargaining agreements. This accommodation was intended to protect the arbitral process by preventing injuries that could not be adequately redressed through an arbitral award. Our holding furthers this goal.
As for Amoco’s argument that the alleged injuries are too speculative, we note that district courts have wide discretion in exercising their equitable powers. M-K-T Railway, 363 U.S. at 535, 80 S.Ct. at 1330. The scope of these powers is jurisdictionally circumscribed in the context of labor disputes, but once it is determined that jurisdiction is proper, the court may freely exercise its powers. Based on our review of the record, we decline to hold that the district court in this case abused its discretion in concluding that the Union’s allegations of irreparable injury were not speculative.
The last18 of the traditional equitable principles that a party seeking Boys Markets injunctive relief must satisfy is that the balance of hardships favors issuance of the injunction. Boys Markets, 398 U.S. at 254, 90 S.Ct. at 1594. An examination of the record reveals that the district court found no evidence of a drug problem at the Salt Lake City refinery, but only of a nationwide problem. As a consequence, the court concluded that no injury to Amoco would result except for a delay in the testing program. On the other hand, the court found that the Union members would be irreparably injured by implementation of the program. The district court thus found that the balance of hardships favored issuance of the injunction. We are not persuaded that the district court abused its discretion in this regard.
IV.
We affirm the order of the district court for the aformentioned reasons. Our ruling should not be construed as in any respect indicating this court’s view of issues that the parties have agreed to submit to arbitration.
AFFIRMED.