Our advocacy is having an impact! Bill C-409, a bill to end unpaid work in the airline industry, has been tabled in the House of Commons. Write a letter to your MP today to tell them they need to support this legislation.
Did you know flight attendants in Canada work for an average of 35 hours for free every month?
Because airlines don’t pay flight attendants for duties like assisting passengers with boarding, pre-flight safety checks, deplaning, and other delays, flight attendants spend nearly a full workweek every month working for free. Even though they’re on the job in uniform and taking responsibility for the safety and well-being of their passengers. In Canada in 2023.
Think that’s messed up? So do we.
Add your voice to tell the federal government and the big airlines: unpaid work won’t fly!
About
CUPE’s Airline Division represents approximately 18,500 flight attendants at Air Canada (including Air Canada Rouge), WestJet (including WestJet Encore and Swoop), Air Transat, Sunwing, Calm Air, PAL Airlines, Canadian North, Flair Airlines, Pivot, and PasCan.
WHAT DO FLIGHT ATTENDANTS DO?
There’s more to a flight attendant’s job than drink service and the in-flight safety demo – a lot more.
Flight attendants are responsible for ensuring the safety and comfort of passengers along with the safety and security of the plane itself on the ground and at 25,000 feet.
Flight attendants must know the planes they’re working on, from the oxygen system to lighting, water and waste systems, and controlling cabin comfort. They may identify aircraft needs like de-icing and propeller abnormalities, and they carry out safety checks for windows, equipment, and potential leaks, spills or structural damage inside the aircraft.
Flight attendants are in charge of passenger safety too, ensuring safety rules and procedures are being observed, and assisting with mobility-impaired passengers, unaccompanied minors, service animals. They must know everything from emergency response protocols to first aid, from dealing with unruly passengers to putting out fires onboard. They are also trained to deal with everything from dangerous goods to a death on board.
All of this, of course, requires an extensive amount of training – and re-training annually too. Flight attendants are in a constant cycle of keeping their training up to date.
Some of these duties are paid, but many are paid at or below the federal minimum wage, and even more are not paid at all, depending on which airline you work for. Our message is simple: if a flight attendant is at work, in uniform, performing work duties – they should be getting paid!
Stay up to date!
- Take the survey and share your experience of unpaid work.
- Our petition to end unpaid work garnered more than 17,000 signatures.
- Read more about their fight for fair wages.
- Contact Air Transat and tell the company you support a fair deal for cabin crew.
Latest News
- Free collective bargaining must be defended
- Federal government must stay out of bargaining between Air Canada and pilots
- Air Canada Component of CUPE welcomes new federal Minister of Labour
- Air Canada flight attendants spend hours responding to bomb threat – unpaid!
- Tireless advocacy from flight attendants leads to legislation to ban unpaid work in the airline sector
- CUPE calls for "de-marketization" of air transportation in northern, rural and remote communities at House Transport committee
- CUPE celebrates International Flight Attendant Day with day of action on Parliament Hill to end unpaid work
- Air Canada’s financial success built on the unpaid labour of its flight attendants
- Air Transat flight attendants now the highest paid in the industry
National Day of Action April 25
On April 25, at airports across the country, we brought our message out loud and clear: unpaid work won’t fly! Thank you to everyone who joined or supported us from afar.
Bringing Our Voice to Ottawa
On May 30, 2024, to celebrate International Flight Attendant Day (May 31st), flight attendants from across Canada converged on Ottawa to lobby federal politicians to fix gaps in Canada’s labour and transport laws to end unpaid work.
Contact
How is unpaid work affecting you? Let CUPE’s Airline Division know by contacting w.lesosky@accomponent.ca