I got a 3% raise in my pay in January. Entirely earned, since I’m good at my job, where the normal raise is around 2%. But it’s still not going to cover all this crap completely.
And neither will 5.9%.
My oldest son works for an international company. They give very minimal raises each year, but focus more on bonuses. Believe it or not, last year was their best year financially, despite the lockdowns all across the globe. My son got a very nice bonus this past spring, and it looks like his department will be getting another good bonus this year. Not bad for sitting on your ass in front of a desk in your dining room every day. Until the lockdown last year, he had to drive into work every day. With gas prices so high, it's fortunate he doesn't have to fill his tank up very often.
It will be 20 years in December that I've been retired. I worked in uniform, in NY State's Dept. of Corrections. I had to belong to the union, especially because some of the benefits were tied to the contracts. Contracts usually ran 3 years. When Mario Cuomo was Governor, there were contract periods when we got 0-0-1, or 0-0-3. We never got a negotiated raise over 3% in the 25 years I worked for the State. We were allotted performance advancement rates once a year on our anniversary. I can't complain about any of it. Up until I took the job, I was working as an office clerk for the county, while raising two sons alone. My salary before I took the job was $5579. When I became a C.O. trainee, my salary started at about $11,500. I retired as a Sergeant making about $65,000. Between working for the County, and the State, I ended up with almost 33 years of service. Between my pension, and Social Security, I now make almost the same as I was making when I was working full-time. Not bad for sitting on your ass on the sofa watching TV, and fiddling on the computer every day.