[joycer]

Employees able to talk reluctant employers into deserved yet withheld pay raises are reluctant to expose that success because others will in turn attempt the same.

With a flood of employees seeking a pay raise similar to the first is feared to cause the employer to develop resentment and distrust to the employee who first received the raise.

Thus employees keep their salaries secret from each other. Fearing it could be higher than a colleague.

I agree, hiding pay is a means of keeping the salaries down. Very far down.