My experience in Human Resources/Management included both market competitiveness and fairness in salary. The variables that effect salary are the starting salary you were hired at. Market forces sometime require bumps in all salary grades if this happened shortly after you were hired the person coming in behind you starts at a higher salary. Performance rating affects salary, as will your chosen occupation and industry. Another factor are the benefits you receive. some companies pay less but offer better benefits. a big factor is the profitability of a company as well as the economy in general.

Look at the folks who got caught in the 2008 recession.

All of this factors and more apply to determining a competitive salary/wage, except if your a private/public union then none of that matters because the union bosses /politicians have this quid pro quo arrangement you pretend to negotiate union demands on behalf of the interests of taxpayers and will pretend you are resisting our demands. so successful has this arrangement been, especially for public union that workers in the same occupation in the private sector have fallen far short in both compensation and benefits. Ergo public union pensions take up about 40% of a state's budget in many states.

Personal Best Regards: