A 3% raise is a lot for most people in the private sector. Some people don't get raises at all. I'm a software developer and I got a 2% raise last year. The year before, I got 1.5%.

This is all totally irrelevant though. One, the private sector isn't automatically what's right or wrong about wages in America, so saying "well in the private sector that would be good" says nothing at all.

Two, I'd bet your wage isn't $32,000 a year, is it? So 'only' 1.5% or whatever on a solid wage is a completely different game from a 3% raise on a salary within spitting distance of poverty. They need and deserve at least 15%, just to make the job worth doing. You can't even buy a shitty house or raise one child on $32,000 in the triangle, even if we made wildly speculative assumptions that they get fabled "government job" benefits that pay for every dime of retirement and healthcare (which they don't).

Forgive me for being hostile, but I fucking hate it when people play percentage games with dramatically differing salaries and benefit packages. Some people need and deserve 10% 20% or 50% raises in this region. Some people don't need another penny and won't for years or decades to come. Wages are completely out of whack around here.