But in government entities usually the immediate superiors have very little leeway to change your salary, so the employees know it's pointless to argue over dif

But in government entities usually the immediate superiors have very little leeway to change your salary, so the employees know it's pointless to argue over differences in a salary that has very strong rules that very few people can influence. In private companies on the other hand there's usually a much larger margin for salary to be negotiated, which incentivizes the consequences you mentioned.