Neigh-all human employees are profoundly irrational about changes in their pay. If I'm raising their pay, any justification from "busy season" to "in-demand skills" to "inflation" to "chocolate ice cream melts in the sun" is 100% reasonable and acceptable. Vs. if I'm lowering their pay, it doesn't much matter whether sales are soft, their skills have gone out of demand, the local cost of living went down, or what - they get pissed off, and argue over every penny.
Do not expect any experienced boss to be rational on a topic, when you neigh-certainly are not.
Do not expect any experienced boss to be rational on a topic, when you neigh-certainly are not.