First off yes, I know we’re federally legally allowed to discuss our wages. He just requested as a friend that I keep his name out of the discussion when I ask for a raise.
So recently me and a coworker were discussing how our money just isn’t going as far as it used to, and it would be nice if the company in addition to our regular raises, also gave us a raise to account for inflation and general price hikes across the board. During this discussion I point blank asked him how much he’s being paid (we’re salaried) and his salary is significantly more than me.
I’ve already been wanting to ask for a raise from my manager, as I’ve genuinely started to struggle financially the past 6 to 8 months as cost of living has just skyrocketed and I’ve been deserving of a raise for a while anyways. But this just pisses me off to no end that we do the same job yet aren’t even fucking paid the same. And it’s not an amount that makes it so he’s living a different lifestyle or in a different tax bracket, but it’s enough that it makes a difference and he can definitely afford to live more comfortably than I can.
So that brings me to the title: how do I go about bringing up wage discrepancies in the team without involving my coworker specifically? For reference we’re a company of about 160ish, but our specific department has maybe a dozen people, with me being only one of 3 in my exact role. So I want to be as careful as possible to ensure nothing happens to my coworker.