Epic trainwreck Alasdair Thompson

[Ab]

Background:

(CEO of the Employers Manufacturing Association) Alasdair Thompson and the CTU's Kelly faced each other on Mike Hosking's talkback show this morning on a Green Party Bill which will let women have access to information about pay rates in their workplace to test if there is gender-based discrimination.

Kelly maintained it was ''proven'' that there were pay gaps based on gender only right across the workforce. She said if there were two accountants in a firm with the same qualifications, often the man would be paid more.

He interjected: ''Statistics don't tell the whole truth - they don't explain why this happens.

''The fact is women have babies, they take time out with their careers, have babies - look, I don't like saying this...this is how contentious this is.''

Thompson said if statistics had to be relied upon, those that showed who took the most sick leave should be looked at.

''Why do they take the most sick leave? Women do in general. Why? Because once a month they have sick problems, not all of them but some do,'' he said.

Now getting goaded into saying dumb shit like that on live radio by the President of the Council of Trade Unions when you're the CEO of the Employers Manufacturing Association is pretty fucking fail.

But wait. It gets worse/betterer.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Alasdair-Thom...1/Default.aspx

HOW NOT TO DO AN INTERVIEW, BY ALASDAIR THOMPSON

or

HOW TO REMIND US OF THAT PSYCHO MANAGER WE ALL HATE, BY ALASDAIR THOMPSON

or

HOW TO LOOK LIKE A BULLY TRYING TO INTIMIDATE A WIDDIW GIRL, BY ALASDAIR THOMPSON

Holy fucking shitballs, it's almost like this guy was artificially engineered to do everything possible to make you hate him. And he's a CEO. Put forward to do high-profile media appearances.

The first few minutes are him marking his territory in the interview, and the fun starts at about 20mins when Mihi Forbes starts kicking him in the nuts.

[StN]

I loved the bit where he got up and stormed out when she started mentioning heavy bleeding.

And then when he asked for the cameras to start rolling again - you can almost see the look on his face when he realises it's all over.

But the stand over tactic with his hands in his pockets and invading her personal space was laughable. Almost caused a domestic when I LOL'd - she thought I was laughing with him, not at the crumbling heap his career had just become.

[StN]

My wife did smile this morning though, when Hillary Barry read that protestors intended to hail the building in Auckland with tampons today.

[blynk]

I heard the comments when he said them, and my first thought was that he's outer there. There is no coming back from that.

What an idiot, and then when trys to explain himself, he digs a bigger hole.

Next thing he will be saying that muslims should be paid less, because they take time out of their day to pray.
And older people, because they type slower...

[fixed_truth]

For added lolz
http://twitpic.com/5fkaz8

[doppelgänger of someone]

The first 20 mins of TV3 interview sounds pretty reasonable. The gender gap, based on his suggestions, is a social problem, i.e. that men feel entitled to work the same hours as before even when they have kids, whereas women feel gang-pressed socially to take care of kids when the men don't feel like sharing the burden. So the gender gap in productivity, i.e. women take a few years off to raise young kids, can be solved by men taking more responsibility at home (ala e.g. Scandinavia) so women don't need to take a few years off. A common point, so far so good.

So his point is, legislation showing pay disparity won't solve the gender gap in pay. The disparity can be explained by employer being actually discriminating, or equally explained by woman pulling 'double shift', both at home AND at work, thus being less productive at work. Pay disparity ALONE will not conclusively show which is happening in any particular case. The legislation COULD force the REALLY discriminating employers to clean up his act, but it won't solve the underlying double shift women have to pull, which is the most dominant factor in pay disparity. Only a change in gender role will.

So that's his reason for his opposition to the bill: don't punish businesses with more regulations because the society itself got things wrong. So far so reasonable.

***

At that point Forbes asked him again where he got the statistics that women take more sick leaves because of period pain, he obviously talked out of his ass in the previous interview, and he obviously knew that he had no solid evidence to back it up. His evidence is that women tend to take more sick leaves than men, not its REASON. Also obvious is that he is a proud/vain man, he would not admit he talked out of his ass on camera.

Epic train wreck followed.

Look I think the Campbell Live team WANTED to goad him. They have taken the baton from Holmes and wanted explosive, confrontational television and pretend that it is newsworthy. Kind of like talkback radio. He just played right into their hands. At the end Mihi Forbes even sneaked in a few remarks that sounded like she was talking to a naughty boy.

The more important story IMO is the unequal gender role, that men generally feel entitled to do less domestic chores than women, and THAT usually lead to pay disparity. THAT is the important problem to solve in terms of equality. NOT some guy mouthing off needed to be taken down a peg.

[Ab]

The trainwreck was that a supposedly powerful and experienced CEO walked right into it.

"Hey, I'm a old rich white guy who just got manipulated into saying something offensive in the media, how should I handle this in order to minimise the damage to myself and my industry? Hey I know, I'LL BE AN ARROGANT MISOGYNIST COCK TO A FEMALE REPORTER IN FRONT OF A TV CAMERA, THAT WILL WORK."

[doppelgänger of someone]

NBR coming to rescue: Research paper suggests menstrual cycle affects pay

[GRiM ReeFer]

what is the 12% difference exactly? pay rate or overall income?

Alasdair Thompson gives the impression it is overall income after time off, sick leave without pay -salary based income specific etc, otherwise his comments are simple arsehattery.

[CCS]

I prefer that women stay at home when they're menstruating. I think it should be encouraged.

[xor]

http://www.3news.co.nz/Alasdair-Thom...1/Default.aspx

At 20minutes when she asked 'Where did you get your information from?' he pauses. You can see him watching his job run away from him.

Awesome interview

[blynk]

So what, 1 day a month is 5% of the working year. Not 12%. Plus I imagine most places have a something like 5 or 10 days sick leave a year, so anything above that is unpaid anyway.
And that doesn't take into account 'flu' sick days. So in theory, if women did take a day every month, most of it is unpaid, so they are earning less again.

Also, what about smokers. They probably take more breaks than non smokers, that can easily add up to a day a month. They should be paid less.

The only thing I would agree with is that generally women will take a couple of years off for a kid.
So at the same age, a women may be paid less.

[blynk]

Originally Posted by xor

http://www.3news.co.nz/Alasdair-Thom...1/Default.aspx

At 20minutes when she asked 'Where did you get your information from?' he pauses. You can see him watching his job run away from him.

Awesome interview

I have seen the full interview yet, but I imagine it was a simpsons moment, when Homers brain walks away.

[xor]

Exactly like that.

EMA - Delivering awesome advice since ages ago

[fixed_truth]

Originally Posted by doppelgänger of someone

NBR coming to rescue: Research paper suggests menstrual cycle affects pay

Or does it? Hmmm

[StN]

The tricky bit is where he is clearly uncomfortable taking about human biological processes with a member of the opposite sex - to the point that he implies that there is a woman in the office that keeps track of ladies problems because it would be inappropriate (illegal?) for a bloke to do so, and that he could potentially call her in to report on such statistics that he could not possibly be keeping.

Walking on thin ice and falling through up to his neck.

[xor]

Leave it to Les to explain next time, son.

[Vrtigo]

yea, he walked into their trap, he possibly said something that offended some people, but that doesnt make him wrong. its just unfortunate that something small that he said which he probably didnt think through carefully enough was picked up on and made a massive thing, bigger than the actual debate.

poor guy tbh. he did try his best to explain himself and why he said what he said in a logical manner, but that reporter didnt want anything except blood (lol). ill bet she asked for the job because she was the most upset about the comments, and her bosses felt that it would make excellent tv.

wtf was with filming everything, on or off camera, and telling him that it was off? deceitful much? will anyone ever again agree to interview with tv3? i certainly wouldnt, they give journalism a shiny coat of shit.

its a fucking disgrace, the whole thing, and now the lions will get what they want, someones life ruined. well done new zealand.

[CCS]

Originally Posted by Vrtigo

wtf was with filming everything, on or off camera, and telling him that it was off?

When did they ever tell him the camera was off?

[Redneck]

Originally Posted by Vrtigo

but that doesnt make him wrong.

Except that he IS wrong and he even admitted that he hadnt done any homework on it.

someones life ruined.

S'ok, he deserved it

[madmaxii]

Campbell live became the Womens Weakly of NZ TV about 2 years ago. And the other lot aren't much better. Nzgames for the win at 7pm weekdays. However,CCS, you need to rev your game up too.

[Phantom]

Originally Posted by Vrtigo

blah blah blah

Have you actually watched any of this stuff? The original comment was forgivable, not what happened next. 3 news didn't trap him, they didn't lie to him, they didn't force him to be an agro mysoginistic fuckwad. The only thing that's a fucking disgrace is your comprehension skills.

[blynk]

Originally Posted by Vrtigo

wtf was with filming everything, on or off camera, and telling him that it was off? deceitful much? will anyone ever again agree to interview with tv3? i certainly wouldnt, they give journalism a shiny coat of shit.

I didn't pick up that they said it was off, and I bet you would fine that the recording of many interviews start before the first question is asked. They will be focusing, and getting the setup right.

I loved how he talking about how they would cut it how they wanted too, and they didn't need to. It worked better unedited.

[CCS]

Originally Posted by madmaxii

Campbell live became the Womens Weakly of NZ TV about 2 years ago. And the other lot aren't much better. Nzgames for the win at 7pm weekdays. However,CCS, you need to rev your game up too.

I don't take orders from a little bitch like you.

[wugambino]

I was listening to this interview on the radio and you knew what he was wanting to say but despite the fact he, and everyone listening, knew it would be an awful idea ... he said it anyway (even apologising before , during and after) it really was like watching a train crash.

[Golden Teapot]

The team I'm privileged to manage is nearly all women. Really the only difference between this team and a male team is that the conversation tends more toward eyelash extensions compared to the cricket score. Productivity is the same either way.

And, guess what - the pay is the same irrespective of gender.

[Vrtigo]

Originally Posted by Phantom

3 news didn't trap him

come on, really? he kept trying to explain the reasons behind his (awfully delivered) comment, and all 3 wanted was to corner him into giving an awesome soundbite that would give them ratings.

hes not wrong - everything he said was correct. he wasnt saying things should be how he explained. hes saying evidence suggests things do happen that way regardless. and hes being demonized for stating that? what a society.

im not even defending him really, im just stating it how it is. people seem to be too emotional about this shit, lashing out against rational discussion.

edit: the standing over her thing was awful, no doubt. wtf indeed.
edit2: ok, they didnt specifically state that the camera was off. but he asked for it to be off for a moment, and they made noises like it was off.

[Redneck]

Originally Posted by Vrtigo

hes saying evidence suggests

If only he had some! He's a cunt pure and simple and there's nothing better than watching a cunt cop a reamin'.

[fixed_truth]

Originally Posted by Vrtigo

hes not wrong - everything he said was correct.

wat?

[Ab]

Originally Posted by Vrtigo

edit2: ok, they didnt specifically state that the camera was off. but he asked for it to be off for a moment, and they made noises like it was off.

Can you point out where that happens?

[CCS]

The funny thing is Thompson thinks he can dictate when the camera is on or off. Fact is, he isn't in charge of the camera and if the camera op or the interviewer want it on - it stays on.

Originally Posted by Vrtigo

come on, really? he kept trying to explain the reasons behind his (awfully delivered) comment, and all 3 wanted was to corner him into giving an awesome soundbite that would give them ratings.

It seemed to me that he was doing two things. The first is that he was still trying to explain and justify why he had said the things that he had already apologised for. Digging a deeper hole. Durr.
The other thing he was doing is that he was actually trying to offer up soundbites. He would start to say something, stop, go back and rephrase it. He wasn't being cornered into anything - he wanted to deliver what he considered perfect soundbites.

Of course the journalist was pushing his buttons. She saw him as defending a weak position and she went for it. Probably that was her intention from the beginning but so what? He should've been smarter.

[Lightspeed]

So this guy is a chump. Who was the chump who hired this chump?

[CCS]

Who do you think normally hires CEOs?

[blynk]

Originally Posted by CCS

Who do you think normally hires CEOs?

The rest of the Old Boys Club do. No ladies allowed in that.

[zeekiorage]

They should fire him as CEO and replace him with a woman.

[fixed_truth]

^Good idea. Will cut back on the salary expense.

[cyc]

The guy is an idiot who got absolutely baited and fell hook, line, and sinker. He's also likely to be a holder of fairly anachronistic views. Was his "stunt" worthy of the sack? I don't think so but this guy has opened himself up to a bunch of people pushing to sack him/have him sacked to make themselves look good.

[adonis]

Originally Posted by fixed_truth

^Good idea. Will cut back on the salary expense.

I see what you did there.

[CCS]

Love this part.

[The Edge]

Originally Posted by cyc

He's also likely to be a holder of fairly anachronistic views.

I recall around the 2005 election, this jerk (and his company) ran an ad campaign telling the Government to "rev up Auckland's transport". Translation = "I want more roads! To hell with public transport! All I care about are roads! Roads are the way of the future!" About that point I stopped caring about anything he said - the congestion in Auckland is bad enough as it is without building more roads.

Fortunately, this event is probably the end of him doing EMA's ads on the radio