GROWING WEALTH DISPARITY
In the US, CEOs’ pay grew by 1,460 per cent between 1978 and 2021, according to a report by think tank Economic Policy Institute.
In contrast, compensation for the typical worker grew by just 18.1 per cent, the same study showed.
As the average American worker grows increasingly disgruntled with the widening wage inequality, that could change the way voters mark their ballots at the polls.
“In this day and age, the disparity between the ultra-wealthy and the people who are just working jobs that help all of us out is too big. I will always consider a pro-union candidate higher than an anti-union candidate,” said a US voter.
Another voter told CNA: “I believe in unions. I don’t know if that will sway my vote, but I think that (workers) have every right to strike and I’m on their side.”
“I definitely want to support elected officials that care about the labour movement, and they should care about equal pay for all workers,” said a third voter.
JOE BIDEN’S BIDENOMICS
US President Joe Biden touts himself as a leader who cares about workers, often describing himself as the most pro-union president ever.
“It’s about our progress building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down,” he said earlier this month during a visit to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“I came to office determined to move away from the trickle-down economics and to focus on the middle class. Because when the middle class does well, everybody does well. The middle class built America, but unions built the middle class.
“This is in stark contrast to the conservative Republican view — the so-called MAGA (Make America Great Again) view — which is focused on corporate profits,” Mr Biden added.
Source: CNA
