Oh yeah, the NLRA. As opposed to just quitting and finding a better job? Getting the government (or unions) involved in variably makes a situation like this worse. Just walk away.
I think you are misunderstanding the point. The NLRA grants you the right to discuss your wages with your co-workers. Companies are not allowed to prohibit this, and more people should be made aware of their rights under the NLRA.
So if you are making more than you colleague, and he finds out, then your boss has to spend a greater portion of the next pay increase funds to up his pay. Guess who's raise those funds come out of? It doesn't matter what is legal to do, sometimes it is still not a good idea to discuss compensation.
Whether or not it is a good idea to do so is not the point. The point is that it is against the law for the company to prohibit those discussion (as the company in the OP did). Companies that have policies in violation of labor laws are probably not the best places to be working.
I think I came across different than what I intended. I personally think it should all be out in the open, but if the employer has a policy against discussing compensation, and someone else comes up to your boss and says "Why am I not getting paid as much as Michael", then it is quite likely that your boss will try to rectify this situation (squeaky wheel and all). And since he is only given a fixed amount of money to distribute in raises, it is likely that yours will be affected negatively by that.
Now if you feel that the other employee is being under compensated, and you are getting too much, then that may work out. Or, it may be better to work somewhere else that has more money to spend on employee salaries. But the point still stands, that just because something is legal for you to do doesn't make it a good idea to exercise your rights in every situation.
