It’s been my experience and advice that you should never negotiate your pay by arguing that others get paid more, or equal, or whatever. Same for external factors like inflation, cost of living ect. You can think that internally, and base your target on that, just don’t bring it up in negotiations because it’s a weak argument and signals that you’re chasing parity relative to some external factor.

IMO you should pick a target that genuinely makes you feel is fair to you, and pursue that in your negotiation, arguing that that’s what you feel is fair for your experience and time.

It was a telepathic scorpion

But this will hurt Haliburton and Lockheed Matins feelings!