So a few weeks ago a new guy started at my job. And also a new girl. They were being paid 16 an hour even though me and other employees have been getting paid 15 even though we have been here for a long time. I put in my two week notice a few weeks ago but rescinded it. The District Manager said “Everyone was supposed to get a raise to 16 at the start of the year” to me when I asked why I worked more than others. But was getting paid less. Then, I told my work group chat to message the DM if they're still at 15 and they should be able to get it fixed. Because some people DID get the raise. On Saturday, a coworker asked the district manager what the pay was. The DM skated around the question saying “I don't know. What's your hourly wage? Check your paystub.” But my coworker persisted “no I want to know what the starting wage is” and she wouldn't give a straight answer. The new guy who is starting at 16 said he was told that the starting pay is 15 and then a raise to 16 after three months. Which did not happen. And another girl asked the DM if she was getting a raise but the DM said that there are certain qualifications but they didn't specify the qualifications. So she's being shady. Today, my coworker asked me to make a group chat with the new coworkers to ask all their pay rate. Then my general manager heard it and said “no. You can't discuss wages, it's against company policy”. Which I know isn't true because that's illegal. And the coworker said ” what about {new guy}. Is he gonna get in trouble for talking about it? And the general manager said “he was told not to talk about it” which … Yikes. So now I'm like damn we should start a union but I know nothing about doing that. And also I am afraid of being let go because I believe my state allows you to fire people for any reason. Anyways, how should I follow up on this? What are the recommendations in this situation?
TL;Dr higher ups have been sketchy about pay rates. People haven't been getting paid the same. And we were told it's against company policyy to talk about pay.