Those increased dollar amounts to pay for higher wages have been there for a long time. That extra cash is in the pockets of executive bonuses, stock options and salary.
This is standard in EVERY industry (my wife's job too). It's rich get richer, poor get poorer.
I agree we need to battle it out on the table. It shouldn't, but it takes striking to get back to where we were.
The above is a great explanation. But when we come up with great ideas like this, executives say "wow, great idea!..Thanks!" and puts that money in their own pockets.