BCM McAlpine president Alan Burland yesterday responded angrily to claims of racism within his company,
BCM McAlpine president Alan Burland yesterday responded angrily to claims of racism within his company, calling them “misleading, untrue and sensationalist”.
Stated Mr. Burland : “The management of BCM McAlpine is extremely proud of the company’s history of training and promoting its employees based upon merit and the suggestion that race plays any part whatsoever in its employment practices is abhorrent to those involved.”
The industry leader said that Mr. White had never even worked for BCM McAlpine, let alone been in a position to determine the company’s policies on hiring or any other matter.
He highlighted a 2005 recognition by the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality (CURE) of BCM’s sterling reputation for black promotion.
“The article associates (BCM) with Mr. White’s complaints and is misleading, untrue and sensationalist in a manner that is damaging to our reputation,” the president and managing director stated.
“It is clear that your reporter made no effort whatsoever to check the accusations made by Mr. White against the company. Had she done so she would have found out that Mr. White never worked for the company (and) if he was an employee of an independent contractor on which the company was a general contractor, Mr. White was never in any position to ascertain what the company’s employment practices or statistics are.”
It is a fact that the Mid-Ocean News did not contact BCM for comment on last week’s article but instead sought response from the Government, the Construction Association of Bermuda (CAOB) and P&M Electrical, the company against which the lion’s share of the complaints were lodged.
Neither CAOB nor P&M Electrical was in a position to respond at that time but CAOB president Alex DeCouto yesterday stated: “The Construction Association of Bermuda does not wish to comment on any issues that relate to official Government investigations, until such time as the findings of these investigations are made public.
“However, the CAOB promotes through its code of conduct the adherence to all relevant statutes, codes and standards, as well as a duty to treat their clients, employees and subcontractors with honesty, efficiency and integrity.
“We facilitate formal training through our NCCER (National Centre for Construction Education and Research) — www.nccer.org — training programmes, and are closely collaborating with the NTB (National Training Board) in their efforts to certify all trades in the industry.”
Similar practices had been in place in his company for years, Mr. Burland said, highlighting a slew of efforts to engage and promote Bermudians of all races.
“BCM McAlpine is dedicated to the advancement of all Bermudians within its organisation. It is for this reason that (we) find your article to be particularly irresponsible.
“Of all the major construction companies, BCM is perhaps the company with the highest levels of community awareness and involvement. Its principals sit on numerous national boards, which are devoted to the training and development of young Bermudians.”
BCM’s community involvement is diverse and extends to the Labour Advisory Council, the National Training Board, the Bermuda College, the Bermuda Employers’ Council, the Bermuda Sloop Foundation and other organisations.
As clarified by Mr. Burland:
[bul] No accusation of racial bias has ever been made against the company, let alone has any complaint been brought by Mr. White or any other person associated with him against the company.
[bul] BCM McAlpine employs as many Bermudians as it can and has employed a consistently higher proportion of black Bermudians than the industry average, based upon published CURE statistics.
[bul] BCM McAlpine is proud of the fact that major projects completed by BCM McAlpine over the last there years including the new A.S. Cooper building, the new residences at Ariel Sands, the BHS IB Centre and the new gymnasium at Warwick Academy were managed in the field by black Bermudian superintendents.
[bul] BCM has six black managers throughout its operations.
[bul] BCM McAlpine was given a CURE award in 2005 for promoting equal opportunity.
[bul] BCM McAlpine has major shareholders who are black Bermudians.
[bul] BCM McAlpine has never directly employed any electricians nor does it have any say in the employment of P&M Electrical or any of its independent contractors.
Mr. White, an electrician licensed to US standards, spoke with this newspaper about racist procedures, health and safety violations and Immigration issues in the construction industry which he said were practised “across the board”.
Most of the charges were laid against his employers, P&M Electrical, who Mr. White believes sacked him for vocalising his dissatisfaction.
BCM was also named as an offender. The veteran worker referred to an incident where P&M Electrical, who employed him, was subcontracted by the company and a crane was damaged.
Mr. White alleged the accident happened because BCM overlooked his years of experience and instead placed a white Canadian as site foreman. Mr. Burland stated that the crane referred to was not even on a BCM McAlpine site.
Mr. White has since filed complaint with the Human Rights Commission, the Labour Department and the Bermuda Industrial Union. He has not filed a complaint against BCM.
