Flight attendants are calling to get paid for time that they’re on a plane but not in the air.
Currently, it’s beginning when a plane’s doors are closed and the aircraft pushed back from the gate that flight attendants begin to get paid, until the flight touches down. Attendants figure they work 35 unpaid hours per month.
“It is an archaic practice,” Alia Hussain, president of CUPE Local 4070, said at an informational picket at the Calgary International Airport on Tuesday. Similar protests were taking place at airports across the country
“Anytime that a flight attendant is at work in uniform on duty, should he or she, they should be paid,” she said.
“This isn’t just a one airline problem, this is an industry problem. And we want it addressed.”
Brandy Whitby, the Calgary vice-president for Westjet flight attendants, is now in the industry part-time after 17 years full-time.
She said some of the unpaid work includes checking manuals, bulletins and emails, and checking personal flight documents well before they set foot in a terminal, a process that can take hours.
Delays on the tarmac or people requiring extra assistance deplaning all go unpaid. Winter storms also leave flight attendants without pay.
“I’ve been flying for 20 years and it’s not good. When I think about how many hours I’ve actually volunteered on the aircraft as opposed to what I’ve been paid, it’s a lot,” Whitby said.
She said the union would like to see more of those hours paid for.
“What we see is more often than not that when there are demographics that are primarily staffed by women or individuals who identify as women, that pay is often devalued and lower. And it’s the same in the care industry as well.”
The flight attendants said there are also safety concerns around being awake for extended periods of time.
“Air crew have a specific level of able bodied-ness that they have to pull to be able to operate an aircraft safely and under Transport Canada regulations,” Whitby said. “So you can’t just go to work tired.”
Flight attendants working for Delta Airlines are the lone group who has been able to negotiate for more of those hours outside of flight to be paid for.
In separate statements, Air Canada and WestJet acknowledged they have negotiated collective agreements with the flight attendants’ union, which they follow.
“Regarding rates of pay, these rates were bargained to take into account a credit hour system that provides wages on a basis other than duty time worked, including pre and post flight duties,” a WestJet spokesperson said.
“The WestJet Group remains committed to listening to and addressing concerns raised by our valued cabin crew members through the bargaining process.”
–with files from Michael King, Global News
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