Yeah, that's a terrible justification: that just means that people who are connected and friends get better pay, and those who are outsiders and less connected

Yeah, that's a terrible justification: that just means that people who are connected and friends get better pay, and those who are outsiders and less connected get worse pay: because they don't know what to ask for they'll likely be wrong, but it's only in one direction: if they go too high they'll get told no, if they go too low they won't know it.