In Davos, the gathering of politicians and business leaders at the World Economic Forum had inequality on the agenda.

In addition to the statement by the labour leaders http://www.ituc-csi.org/labour-leaders-statement-davos delegation, the ITUC joined an alliance of civil society groups to add our joint voice to the narrative on inequality.

Inequality is now recognised as what unions and civil society groups have described it as – a social and economic crisis. This view is shared by a range of influential people such as the Pope, and institutions including the IMF and the OECD.

This alliance is jointly looking at why inequality matters to such a diverse range of groups. The joint statement says: “Struggles for a better world are all threatened by the inequality crisis. Workers across the world are seeing their wages and conditions eroded as inequality increases. The rights of women and of already marginalised groups in society are systematically worse in situations of greater economic inequality.”

The launch coincided with the launch by the United Nations of a first ever UN High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment. (http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2016/1/wee-high-level-panel-launchhttp://www.ituc-csi.org/labour-lead... )
Members of the panel include Sharan Burrow (ITUC) and Guy Ryder (ILO). The first meeting of the panel will take place on the side of the upcoming UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March, where a large delegation of trade unionists will be raising the voice of women workers on issues of gender equity in sustainable development, women’s participation in the labour market, challenges of the care economy and the gender aspects of labour rights and discrimination in the workplace.

Read the Inequality Alliance Statement: Civil society leaders issue statement to step up the fight on inequality
See also: Video
https://youtu.be/KGI6hZjsQlA