If I take it from a public service employee perspective, what we have is.... We negotiate with the lawyers. Any groups we have are represented, and we collectively bargain for pay ranges. When I was a lawyer in the government, there used to be LAs: LA-1, LA-2, LA-3, and LA-4. They are now called LPs: LP-1, LP-2, LP-3, and LP-4. Within this, you have set increments as you move from year to year to year.
There isn't a whole lot of arbitrariness, and the negotiation happens at the collective bargaining table with the bargaining agent on those items. Then, when you arrive, it's a matter of your experience in terms of where you fit at the beginning. The rule is pretty much the same for everybody. As you get one more year of experience and have a good evaluation, you move up. After a few years, you hit the ceiling and unless you are promoted, you stay there.
In terms of individual negotiation in a universe such as this one, there isn't a whole lot, if any, negotiation on that. It eliminates that part. The negotiation is done elsewhere for the entire group, and it's pretty set.