They're adorable cx

That's pretty lame. Did you threaten to quit by any chance? I've heard that a lot of corporations will postpone promotions to nudge employees who have been around for a while towards quitting, because they can just replace them with new ones who will work for lower pay. Obviously I couldn't make the claim that that's what your bosses are doing since I don't work there, but it's a messed up business strategy that a lot of companies use to dodge around giving raises/benefits to employees and keep more money for the big-names at the top of the chain. I've also heard that if you threaten to quit, they could basically see it as a pass to just let you quit, because you're telling them that you're willing to look for a job somewhere else if they don't give you the raise.

I don't have a lot of trust in corporations, because I've learned a lot about their garbage policies to treat employees like tools ^^;
I would hope that's not what your bosses are doing, but you never know