Why workers are losing their share of Australia's national income | Greg Jericho

If you want to tackle inequality, the first thing you should do is join a union - a report puts the premium on wages for private sector union workers at 20%

• Greg Jericho is a Guardian Australia columnist

It is now apparent that the issue of inequality is the economic topic of 2017. One of the clearest signs of the problem is how the national economic pie is split up - the latest GDP figures show the share of national income going to employees at 50-year lows. A recent study by the IMF looks at why less of the economic pie is going to workers - and finds that while global forces are at play, the drop in union membership is a significant factor.

The fall in the share of national income going to workers is neither a new thing, nor something which is unique to Australian workers.

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