Assessing Worker Attitudes under a Two-Tier Wage Plan

This study examines data from a 1985 survey of employee attitudes at an airline that had introduced a merging (or temporary) two-tier pay plan the year before. The authors find, contrary to popular wisdom, that lower-wage `B' tier workers felt significantly more satisfied with their pay, work,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Industrial & labor relations review 1990-01, Vol.43 (2), p.225-244
Main Authors: Cappelli, Peter, Sherer, Peter D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Airlines
Employee attitude
Employee Attitudes
Employees
Employment
Employment security
Flight attendants
Implications
Incentive plans
Job satisfaction
Job Security
Labor management relations
New employees
Planning
Political Attitudes
Reference Groups
Referents
Regression analysis
Seniority
Studies
Supervision
Variables
Wages
Wages & salaries
Work
Workers
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Summary:This study examines data from a 1985 survey of employee attitudes at an airline that had introduced a merging (or temporary) two-tier pay plan the year before. The authors find, contrary to popular wisdom, that lower-wage `B' tier workers felt significantly more satisfied with their pay, work, and supervision, more optimistic about future pay, more confident of their job security, and more committed to the company and union than `A' tier workers. The authors suggest that `B' tier workers have lower expectations than `A' tier workers, partly because of their self-selection into jobs with reduced starting wages and partly because of the reference groups with which they evaluate their situations, which differ from `A' tier workers' reference groups.
ISSN:0019-7939
2162-271X
DOI:10.1177/001979399004300204