It's a bit misleading to say that inflation is wiping out the gains from wage increases. These wage increases we're seeing are mostly a response to inflation.
Don't forget that inflation is a policy. So read it this way:. There are wage increases, then it's policy to fuck over laborers, then there are wage increases in response, and the cycle continues. Can't let the laborers get the upper hand of the polity
Exactly, a wage is the price of the labor to perform a specific job and inflation has an effect on all prices, which includes wages.
It sounds like a transfer from higher wage earners to lower wage earners. If you are trading your now slightly more expensive low wage labor for slightly more expensive low wage labor you're only losing if you get bumped into a higher tax bracket. If you are trading rising low wage labor for stagnating high wage labor you are winning.