Sure they are, without question. But when the price exceeds a certain point, it can drive a lot of manufacturing out of the States to Mexico, India, etc.
Not sure what GDP has to do with it, but given inflation, I'd expect most folks to get raises to try and keep up. But 46% and a 32 hour week? That just ain't right. Greed at it finest, IMO.
And you are certainly entitled to your opinion, just as I am mine.
Without turning it into a treatise, GDP and total work force show you how much any average worker contributes to the economy. It has steadily risen, for a host of reasons, meaning each worker today produces more "stuff" per man hour than his predecessors did, yet his wages vs his predecessors remained stagnate from the 1970s through COVID, then lost ground pretty dramatically. In short, Joe Regularguy in the '70s made less "stuff" but had more purchasing power for that "stuff" than the same guy in the same job in 2023. In contrast, the top wage earners have steadily gained ground, which is why we're where we're at and it's accelerating.
Globalization exists, no doubt, and our economy requires some levels of protectionism to maintain our middle class. It's why we still have a shipbuilding industry at all, we subsidize it and engage in protectionism because shipbuilding is mandatory for our own national defense. As is an automotive industry, semi-conductor industry, etc. We can only outsource so much to our enemies and those who can be readily influenced by our enemies without surrendering our ability to protect ourselves and project power. Wages are just part of that, and often not the largest. Energy costs and regulatory compliance, for example. I'm unapologetically America first in this regard, though I understand the issues that creates, again focusing solely on economics and not politics.
I'm not saying wages need to be equal, what I'm saying is wages need to be proportional. Unless you want a return to serfdom, an accelerating trend of economic power (and associated power that goes with it) makes it more and more difficult to maintain a democratic free market style of existence.