Download The Keith Beedie Story - Beedie Group

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THE KEITH
BEEDIE STORY
“It was one of
the most terrible
things to happen
in my life.”
PART 2: BUILT TO LAST
CHAPTER 15: LAND MAN
Unfortunately, the Richmond site would mark another fi rst for Beedie
Construction. Th e fi rst and only construction site fatalities for the
company occurred there in 1973. “It was one of the most terrible things
to happen in my life,” says Keith. Th e Cavco building under construction
was going to have the offi ces built over the truck loading area and a
number of heavy “second”-storey panels were being stacked up to await
completion of the fi rst level. Th ey were balanced on their sides with a
small space between each one with braces at each end to prevent
them from tipping over. In an incredible stroke of bad luck, as two
men were working on the last panel, a strong gust of wind blew
through the site, knocking the panels down like a line of dominos.
“Ted was fortunate to escape with his life,” says Keith. “He was at
the end and saw the panels coming down. He scrambled to get out
of the way, tripping on something as he went. He narrowly missed
being crushed, crawling out at the last second.” Th e two men at the
end of the stack were not as lucky. Both workers were killed by the
impact of the panels. “Betty had only been in my offi ce a handful
of times,” says Keith. “By coincidence, when I received the phone call
about the accident, she was there for a meeting with our insurance agent.
I never swear in front of women, but when I heard the news I jumped
from my chair and said a few choice words.” Keith was horrifi ed by the
thought of the loss of life wrought by one ill-timed blast of wind. “My
fi rst instinct was to get out there right away,” he says, “But I was in no
condition to drive, so I had someone take me out to the site. I didn’t go
to the actual location of the accident because I knew I would never be
able to get the image of what happened out of my head if I did.”
“Safety has always been a very big deal at Th e Beedie Group.”
—TERRY BRINDLEY, CARPENTER
Keith wasn’t the only one shaken by the accident. “Ted was the super on
that job and I don’t think he’s ever gotten over it,” says Keith. “Th ere was
no one to blame. It was just one of those unpredictable tragedies. Th at was
one hell of a wind.” One of the men killed was a 50-year old construction
veteran and the other was a young apprentice. Keith approached the
families of both victims to off er his personal condolences and learn
more about the men who had worked for Beedie Construction. He was
reassured by both families that the men knew the risks associated with
the industry. For the family of the apprentice, he donated money to the
young man’s church and paid for a stained glass window to be erected in
his memory. “It was an incredibly tough time. About as painful as it can
get,” he says. “Something I’ll never forget.”
STATE OF THE UNIONS
“The ineffi ciency drove
me crazy,” says Keith.
“You could go to a job site
and see two or three guys
doing work that one man
could have done.“
Once Keith had succumbed to union pressure in 1964, in order to get cranes into operation on a job site, it
wasn’t easy to reverse the process. To get around what seemed to be an unending stream of regulations and
demands, Keith formed an alternate company. Beemet Construction Ltd. was created to allow for greater
fl exibility and effi ciencies on projects and at job sites. Even with Beemet in play, though, the unions couldn’t
be completely avoided. Unions and their rules still played a larger role in Keith’s business than he liked. “The
ineffi ciency drove me crazy,” says Keith. “You could go to a job site and see two or three guys doing work that
one man could have done. A speck of rain appeared, the rules said they could take a rain vote to quit for the day
with pay. It was frustrating to hear about work delays when I knew how long something should take.”
Increasingly frustrated by the union presence at Beemet Construction, Keith leaped at the opportunity
to decertify in 1987, when the government introduced new legislation. The big challenge was to arrive at a
successful decertifi cation vote. While the vast majority of employees saw the same limitations presented
by the union, the lead-up to the vote created a lot of tension. Beemet Construction workers were pressured
by union offi cials to vote in favour of maintaining the status quo.
The process was closely scrutinized and regulated, and included a rule that prevented Keith from speaking
directly to his employees about the issue. “How can you state your case if you can’t talk to anyone?”
says Keith. “Luckily, there were lots of people in the company dedicated to gett ing the truth out there
to employees.” When the time came to vote, the overwhelming majority of Beedie employees voted to
decertify. The only holdouts were younger workers who had less experience with the company, and who had
been fed false promises by union management. “I felt bad for some of the young guys who were ultimately
disappointed in the union when the things they were promised didn’t work out. But they had to make their
choice,” says Keith. After years of the union, Beemet Construction became one of the fi rst companies to
become non-union under the new legislation.
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