But then we were getting not giving!
And that my friend is the root cause of the discomfort here. Not many here (if any at all) have ever in their lives experienced a pay cut. Many if not all of us lived through the good times where we got increases but never cuts and it's traumatizing some who are experiencing a cut the first time. Ask most any person in any industry if they'd rather take a small pay cut or experience a layoff/closure. When push comes to shove I guarantee most would prefer and accept the cut.