It’s a ridiculous situation, but you can thank the courts for it. All he has to do is state that he’s an alcoholic and they can’t fire him. They can put all kinds of restrictions and conditions on him, but they can’t can him. If he violates those conditions or restrictions at a later date then they can fire him.
I actually think you're aiming at the wrong target. The union is only doing what it's supposed to be doing: defending a member.
It's sort of like having a lawyer on retainer. It's not your lawyer's job to judge you, but to defend you.
The real culprits here are the public officials who do not push back HARD against unreasonable union demands.
Hey, he could claim the old child porn defense routine: “I was doing research.”
The real question should be why a Free Citizen is prohibited from driving 143 mph (meh! slowpoke) if he should wish to do so. Just because some totalitarians pulled an arbitrary number (55, 65,...) out of their hat? How pathetic.