{"id":590305,"date":"2026-04-08T13:43:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/590305\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T13:43:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:43:20","slug":"union-claims-ottawas-unpaid-work-probe-doesnt-take-flight-attendants-arguments-seriously","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/590305\/","title":{"rendered":"Union claims Ottawa\u2019s unpaid work probe doesn\u2019t take flight attendants\u2019 arguments seriously"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Unionized employees and supporters take part in a rally for Air Canada flight attendants on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Sept. 16, 2025.Sean Kilpatrick\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The Canadian Union of Public Employees says the federal government\u2019s probe into allegations of unpaid work in the airline sector is not taking workers\u2019 arguments seriously.<\/p>\n

Ottawa launched an investigation into the sector in August, 2025, when negotiations between Air Canada AC-T<\/a> and the union representing its flight attendants boiled over into a strike that saw planes grounded as workers took to the picket lines.<\/p>\n

Central to that work stoppage were allegations<\/a> from the union that flight attendants are regularly subjected to unpaid work when aircraft are grounded.<\/p>\n

In response, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu asked her department to look into whether workers in the sector were being paid below a standard set by the federal minimum wage.<\/p>\n

Findings from the first phase of that probe published in February found little evidence that unpaid work was widespread in the industry, though investigators flagged some issues with part-time and entry-level flight attendants to get a closer look.<\/p>\n

Hajdu said at the time that the federal government needs more data to fully settle the issue.<\/p>\n

Opinion: I used to be a flight attendant. Here\u2019s what the job taught me about labour, gender \u2013 and, yes, unpaid work<\/a><\/p>\n

Wesley Lesosky, president of CUPE\u2019s Airline Division, said those initial findings were \u201ca little frustrating\u201d for the union and its members.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are copious amounts of times where we are unpaid, based on our schedules, based on how we\u2019re paid,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hajdu has said in the past the credit-based compensation model that\u2019s standard in the Canadian airline sector has been established over the course of decades of collective bargaining.<\/p>\n

Lesosky called the credit-based system \u201cconvoluted.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pay formula is largely based on time flight attendants spend in the air, combined with other factors as well as daily or monthly minimums for wages. But Lesosky said that approach fails to accurately take into account when delays and unforeseen circumstances keep cabin crew grounded, but still on duty.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of that\u2019s compensated because you didn\u2019t fly. You\u2019re not credited,\u201d he said. \u201cSo the whole idea of this formula pay doesn\u2019t take into account the actual conditions of a flight attendant today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of the second phase of the federal government\u2019s probe relies on the airlines conducting self-audits of their pay records to determine whether there are instances of crew members performing work below the federal minimum wage.<\/p>\n

A WestJet spokesperson said in a statement to The Canadian Press the airline is supporting the federal government\u2019s \u201ccollaborative approach\u201d in the probe. WestJet values the work of its cabin crew and \u201cremains committed to transparent and constructive dialogue,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Air Canada did not respond to requests for comment on this story.<\/p>\n

CUPE said in a release last week that it appears the airline industry is \u201cflying the plane\u201d in the probe.<\/p>\n

Lesosky said the audit parameters allow airlines to select as few as 40 workers to track to determine whether they\u2019re underpaid, with no requirement for random sampling. CUPE also said that the probe is happening outside of peak travel seasons when packed flight schedules make instances of alleged unpaid work more common.<\/p>\n

CUPE argues the federal government hasn\u2019t established a definition of work for flight attendants in the first place \u2013 whether a shift starts when they\u2019re in uniform at the airport, if it extends when they\u2019re part of a delay or have additional duties that crop up after a plane hits tarmac.<\/p>\n

Lesosky argued that, without a definition of work specific to airline employees set out in Canada\u2019s labour code, it is impossible for the probe to determine whether workers are falling below the federal pay standards.<\/p>\n

Without that definition, the union is also bargaining at a disadvantage, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is completely unfair that I have to sit at a bargaining table and bargain a minimum standard. That doesn\u2019t make sense,\u201d Lesosky said.<\/p>\n

Hajdu\u2019s office said in a statement to The Canadian Press that the second phase of her department\u2019s probe is expected to give the details needed to determine whether unpaid and unfair working conditions exist in the airline sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time the government identifies non-compliance with the (Labour) Code, it will act to ensure federally regulated workers\u2019 rights are upheld. The government will compel parties to provide the necessary information, if they are not provided, as part of this process,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Hajdu\u2019s office also said any employees who believe they are not being compensated properly should file grievances with their unions or a formal complaint with the federal labour program.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur inspections will remain rigorous and uncompromising. Compliance with the law is not a suggestion,\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n

Lesosky said if the union feels its examples of unpaid work were not accurately represented in the probe, members will continue to make their cases directly to the public to demonstrate unfair conditions in the sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I think that we\u2019ll be represented equally? I don\u2019t, but I think we\u2019ll force the issue \u2013 so we have to be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Air Canada and CUPE announced in February they had settled outstanding issues on wages in arbitration.<\/p>\n

The agreement, which runs until March 2029, means flight attendants at Air Canada now receive half their hourly wage rate for 60 minutes of ground time on narrow-body aircraft and 70 minutes on wide-body planes. That is to rise to 60 per cent of the hourly wage rate in April, 65 per cent in 2027 and 70 per cent in 2028.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Unionized employees and supporters take part in a rally for Air Canada flight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":590306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,20739,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":{"0":"post-590305","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ottawa","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-ca","15":"tag-canada","16":"tag-canada-news","17":"tag-canada-sports","18":"tag-canada-sports-news","19":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","20":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","21":"tag-canadian-news","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-education","24":"tag-environment","25":"tag-federal-government","26":"tag-foreign-news","27":"tag-globe-and-mail","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","30":"tag-government","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-northwest-territories","39":"tag-nova-scotia","40":"tag-nunavut","41":"tag-ontario","42":"tag-ottawa","43":"tag-pei","44":"tag-photos","45":"tag-political-news","46":"tag-political-opinion","47":"tag-politics","48":"tag-politics-news","49":"tag-quebec","50":"tag-sports-news","51":"tag-technology","52":"tag-travel","53":"tag-trudeau","54":"tag-us-news","55":"tag-world-news","56":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}