Inflation causes absolute value of the number represented by that floor to increase.

I assure you. There is only one relative group of people local to whom that number teitching makes a big difference.

Hint: If you sort by income descending, they're toward the far end.

A huge swath of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and can't afford a $500 emergency. As inflation increases the cost of goods and services those people have even less wiggle room to handle the unexpected and/or they need to start cutting back on expenses.

That's my struggle with this part, and that was my point with the less bargaining power. Everything else you say is true, but I have concerns about this bit. My wage required a job jump to increase and I'm by no means lower middle class.