Pay Issues – Update

Many of you utilized the services provided by the Union to review your pay summaries, and as we are near the completion of this, we wanted to provide an update on this and on pay overall.

In January 2024, the Union met with Air Canada Senior Management to express our serious concerns with the way that the vacation overpayment process was once again being mishandled (See link to January 29, 2024, Union bulletin by clicking HERE).

On April 11, 2024, the Union filed the following Pay related policy grievances:

1. CHQ-24-30 – POLICY – Improper Rates of Pay – Mainline employees who have flown through from Rouge: 

• Air Canada was incorrectly reducing the mainline pay rate of employees who flowed through from rouge to mainline
• Employees only became aware because some of them were sent letters from Air Canada advising that they had been overpaid and no reasons for the overpayment was provided.
• Others noticed that their pay rate had been reduced and wrote to Air Canada for an explanation

2. CHQ-24-31- POLICY – Night-Special Dinners (Article 7.02.01)

• Night dinners per article 7.02.01 were not automatically being paid out by Air Canada’s pay roll system and members needed to put in a pay claim in order to be paid.
• The Union also learned that this lack of automatic payment had been going on for years.

3. CHQ-24-32- POLICY – Special Assignments and Statutory Holiday Entitlements (Articles 8.03, L5)

• Air Canada has been determining the entitlement to statutory holidays of those on special assignment based on an incorrect application of article 8.03 the Collective Agreement.

• Air Canada is stating that members on special assignment are considered to be “off the payroll” and are therefore unable to accrue statutory holidays.

4. CHQ-24-33 – POLICY – Minimum Wage

• Air Canada had NOT been paying the required minimum wage based on the greater of the Federal Minimum Wage or the Provincial Minimum Wage for training and any alternate ground duty work.

5. CHQ-24-34 – POLICY – Recovery of Overpayments and Errors (CLC, section 254.1)

• Air Canada sent out vacation overpayment letters to numerous members advising them that owed monies would be recouped from their pay with little or no information and after the claw back of monies had already commenced.

6. CHQ-24-35 – POLICY – Letter of Understanding 26 – Pay Claims

• This grievance is about the excessive number of outstanding underpayments that are not being processed in a timely fashion in accordance with the collective agreement.
• Article 5.14 clearly states that underpayments on a pay cheque resulting from an error which are in excess of fifty dollars ($50.00) will be reimbursed on a separate cheque within fourteen (14) days of the company receiving advice of such underpayment.  
• Letter of Understanding 26 states that the company will dedicate a resource to process pay claims in a timely fashion and that the status of all outstanding pay claims will be reviewed at every UMHQ meeting as a standing item for discussion.

7. CHQ-24-36 – POLICY – Meal Allowances-entitlements (articles 7.02 and L43)

• The Union received numerous reports and information relating to pay issues and has discovered that Air Canada is instructing members to pay claim meal allowances/entitlements when Air Canada should be paying them automatically.

8. CHQ-24-37 – POLICY – Failure to Pay Pre-Duty Period Ground Duty Credits (Articles 5.08, B5.03.01)

• Air Canada was not paying pre-duty period ground duty credits as per article 5.08.

As you are aware, your Union has been working through the multiple pay issues that were and continue to be flagged.  We created the Pay Committee in June 2024 to assist our members in reviewing pay summaries and statements for any errors or omissions in wages, expenses and premiums. Since that time, we received 1,000s of members’ documents to review.

We were incredibly fortunate to have three members review the statements, Donica Lang, Jesse Matthews and Natasha Pereira.  We thank them immensely for their time and effort in reviewing this pay and capturing $1,000s of missed monies owed to our members.

In addition to the issues raised in the policy grievances filed above, the Union and the Pay Committee have found numerous errors and/or missing payments including and not limited to:

• Expenses in general
• Hours Paid
• Aircraft-specific Service Director Rate of Pay
• Trip Hour Guarantees / Duty Period Guarantees
• Vacation Pay / Credits
• Minimum Monthly Guarantee Calculations
• Duty Overtime Credits (DOT)
• Continuous Duty Day credits
• Pay protection vs Reassignment
• Cleaning Allowance
• Meal allowances not captured and paid out in the first month after a crew member transfers to a new base
• Incorrect Wage Rates Applied
• Retirement Vacation Reconciliations and final pay not issued
• Improper payment of Deadheads on other carriers
• Retirees and members who resign having to wait for final payment and pension info.
• Not paying THG (Trip Hour Guarantee) based on the greater of scheduled or actual
• Incorrectly updated US Meal allowances
• Revised service data affecting vacation bids
• Online training pay not processed
• Pay Claims sitting in eClaim once approved and not being paid out
• Pay Claims sitting in eClaim not being actioned by the company
• Ground duties like maternity alternate work being paid below minimum wage

We have flagged over 5,200 claims to be reviewed by the company since the summer of 2024, and we are still awaiting a final response that these have been paid out.  As we are also all aware, it is taking the company months before payments are issued.  This is over $130,000.00 in monies owed to our members, and this is only based on the members who supplied the information for us to review.

The Union was also made aware of Deadhead issues, when on other airlines, not being reflected properly in Globe for duty period and crew rest limitations, as well as in the pay software to ensure you are paid correctly. This has now been corrected, and the Company has confirmed on February 18, 2025, that there is a new SOP where records modifies the OAL deadheads before pay extract to show the actual times of the OAL deadheads.  Please note that if you operate a deadhead and it’s delayed and cuts into crew rest or your duty day that you contact scheduling to advise them.

This is all on top of the issues we were passively advised of when it came to our Tax Slips for 2021 & 2022.  This issue alone affected anyone that redeemed shine points and/or wage-loss replacement plan.  We have asked for clarity on this front to answer those that have reached out, and have not had a reply to this, but have followed up since January 6, 2025.

The Union has been flagging payroll issues continually, and although we hear back from the Company on these issues, there are new occurrences and existing backlogs to get you paid the money you are entitled to.

We hear you loud and clear and have hammered this home to our counter parts in Labour Relations. Enough is enough, we need these issues to end, and we need accountability on this front, and we need it yesterday.  We come to work primarily to be paid for what we do, and we expect to have someone able to ensure we are paid correctly. We should not have to pay claim for entitlements under the Collective Agreement.

To summarize, for members waiting to be paid the claims the Union has noted and emailed you about, this sits solely with the Employer. We flagged the issues to them, and are following up in a prompt and timely manner.

For members that are noting pay issues when they review their pay, or when someone else is reviewing their pay, please cc: pay@accomponent.ca when you contact payrolls so we can note and log this. It is imperative you check your pay and claim what is rightfully owed, your Local can assist you with this, as well there are pay seminars in some bases to assist with this.  It is your hard earned money and based on the math, there are $100,000.00s owed to the membership at this point.

The Union is clearly at a loss with the lack of “care and class” when it comes to YOUR pay and YOUR rights clearly outlined in the Collective Agreement.  We have flagged these issues to all levels of Management, as well directly to the top with Arielle Meloul-Wechsler and Craig Landry when we filed the above noted grievances.

If you reach out to the Company representatives to express your frustration, please ensure you cc pay@accomponent.ca on your email.

In Solidarity,

Wesley Lesosky
President, Air Canada Component of CUPE