That's not historically correct. Wages generally track inflation well, and are often (and are right now) a leading indicator.
What gets people upset about inflation is that it hurts lenders, not workers.
Inflation slows down growth rates in some cases, becoming stagflation. The slowdown in growth is what really triggered a reaction against stagflation in the 70s.
You can always negotiate a raise. But yes: on balance most workers in the US economy were getting raises as the pandemic ended. I did, just to counter your anecdata. When everyone gets a raise and economic activity doesn't change (or drops, c.f. "chip shortage", or "Shanghai shutdown"), you have more money chasing fewer things, so those things get more expensive (more anecdata: I bought a Model Y about 15 months ago, and could sell it today at a 15% profit because everyone who got raises also wants a Tesla).
Things getting more expensive is the definition of "inflation".
Real wages are down. Specifically: prices are up 8.26%, and the raise was more like 5.5% ish. People can afford less rent. People can afford less food. People can afford less fuel. People can afford fewer goods. People can afford fewer services. People can afford less of everything. This is what “poorer” looks like.
(And remember, that isn’t 2.6% less discretionary income, that’s a total-income figure.)