The dichotomy where many of these same corporations raise prices at levels greater than inflation, while doling out employee "COLA" raises at rates far less than inflation, is pretty stunning.
"Your pay is not tied to any cost of living index."
"Our costs have gone up so we're raising our prices."
Sigh
Even the government is more willing to fight inflation by harming workers than a company's profits.
We'd need more unions - groups with some power over companies who will speak for worker's rights. And while they are starting to proliferate after decades of FUD, their power is also being cut off at the knees by laws that prevent strikes.
It's critical that the jobs be filled, yet those who fill those jobs have no power.
I see that, though it's interesting that Social Security is getting an 8.7% COLA.
Edit: Which is unusual, and new.
Opinion time: One might even say Social Security is primarily used by the cohort with the most time to dedicate to political ventures.
Bluntly, it's a bribe for the Baby Boomer generation to remain loyal to their politicians.
It's better than people being forced to work multiple jobs just to provide the basic necessities for life.
Employee wages are already lagging behind every measure of a employee's worth (productivity, revenue per employee, etc) over time... why do we think it's good policy to fuck them over even more?
Morals matter, even for businesses. Perhaps especially for businesses, given the power imbalance in their favor over ordinary citizens.
Literally everyone should care about an inflationary spiral.
Plus if everyone is auto-raising every employee, that would include lots of well to do professionals, not just those struggling
Because no professionals are struggling? Given how some 80% of people identify as living month to month, and fewer have 3 or 6 months of emergency funds saved up, that seems like it's absolutely not the case.
And frankly, everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room - corporate profits which are at absurd levels. Dial those back, and suddenly you don't have a feedback loop, since you can increase pay without having to raise prices.
But Marx forbid we slow the growth of shareholder wealth to help society at large.