Waging War On Wages

(I work in a fast food company and I recently witnessed some of my managers skipping around the question about their hourly wages. Curious, I asked them why. They told me that it’s illegal to talk about our pay. I was immediately confused because I’d always known it to be legal to talk about. I looked it up on a government website and found that it’s actually illegal to prohibit or punish employees from talking about their wages according to the National Labor Relations act. Finding this out, I proceed to tell one of the managers on duty.)

Me: “Hey, [Manager]! I looked it up on a government website and—” *repeats what it says on the website*

Manager: “It’s still illegal here.”

Me: “But… that’s against the law.”

Coworker: “If people were able to talk about their wages then they could find out they might be getting paid less than someone else and complain.”

Me: “That’s a good thing, though! It keeps companies from screwing over their employees!”

Coworker: “No, it isn’t a good thing!”

Manager: “[My Name], if you keep talking about it then I’ll write you up.”

Me: “…”

(I might complain to HR later on.)