Thursday 23 June 2011

unequal pay is ok with employers & manufacturers association

great. alisdair thomson's response to catherine delahunty's equal pay bill:

... EMA chief executive Alasdair Thompson today admitted there was a gender pay gap -- 12 per cent according to figures -- but said women took the most sick days.

"Why? Because once a month they have sick problems. Not all women, but some do, they have children they have to take time off to go home and take leave," he told NewstalkZB.
Therefore their productivity was lower.


"I don't like saying these things because it sounds like I'm sexist, but it's a fact of life."

once again, i'm refraining from swearing because of internet filters, but really? all you ladies are taking sick days once a month? how come no-one told me? i'll have to start doing that immediately.

aside from the stupidity of the comments, he doesn't want to consider (and actually advocate for) the possibility that men who have children be taking time off around the birth to be active fathers. he's not interested in promoting policies that would make workplaces more family-friendly. he doesn't consider that many women are being more productive on a daily basis than their male counterparts.

nope, he's happy with the gender pay gap & wants it to stay. because heavens forbid that employers be faced with the costs of paying people equally for the same level of work.

i'm with helen kelly - the man has to go.

1 comment:

Paul Williams said...

It's great that you're calling him out on this; his views are repugnant and unless he is sacked, we'll have to conclude that his members agree. I'd hope that's not the case, but at least we'll know which organisations to divert our custom from!