I would suggest that the growing gap you describe is a symptom of continued application of neoliberal policies. It is not that there was a status quo for the last 40 years, it is that the last 40 years has seen accelerating erosion of the conditions/social contract established in western countries in the post depression/WW2 era.

Placing the rights of capital above all others, particularly giving capital a level of mobility that is not afforded labour, combined with an unquestioning embrace of trade liberalisation results in a race to the bottom for labour.

It is only due to the stranglehold of neoliberal thinking on modern economic thought that globalisation is considered inevitable.