[eszed]

The first time I worked with a bunch of Germans, for a German company, the very first topic, at our very first dinner together, was "how much are you being paid?". I was taken aback by this, until they explained the above point, and it totally clicked. One girl that night discovered that she was being paid less than the rest at her level, and with everyone's encouragement went straight to our boss the next morning, and got a raise. Result!

Back in Anglo-Saxon (UK and US) contexts, I've told this story and talked up this approach in every workplace I've been a part of, but it's like pushing on a rope.