As you may recall, the Airline Division, along with many Local and Component Officers from all airlines, convened on a call with The Labour Program to discuss the probe into unpaid work.
The context of the call was:
• The Government of Canada recently launched a probe into allegations of unpaid work in the airline sector.
• Purpose: to determine whether flight attendants are being paid in a manner that meets the minimum requirements of the Canada Labour Code (Code).
• The Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) is currently studying the impact of “work” not being defined in Part III of the Code.
The discussion questions set out for the call were:
Question 1:
Are employees paid at least the minimum wage for every hour they work, as per the meaning of work under IPG-002?
Question 2:
In your view, are the requirements respecting hours of work and minimum wage requirements under Part III of the Code, and related interpretations in IPG-002, clear? Are there any changes (e.g., additional guidance, regulatory or legislative amendments) that would help clarify the hours of work or minimum wage requirements?
The questions above were answered by your Union and are outlined in a follow up letter from the Airline Division President that was sent to Patty Hajdu yesterday and can be found below.
Further, the Government advised of the next steps, where your Union asserted that we need to be equal participants in the process.
A follow-up email will be sent to airline employers requesting a self-audit of payroll records and compensation practices for flight attendants to determine whether they are paid at least the applicable minimum wage for all hours worked. For unionized workplaces, employers will be requested to collaborate with the union on the self-audit.
We will keep you updated on this process as new developments come forward. This is an improvement on what we had previously been hearing, and there are signs that the government is on side and supports the position that all duty period hours are to be paid at minimum wage or more. Having said that, we need to ensure that the definition of work is understood by all parties so we can move forward with the audit.
DELIVERED VIA EMAIL
February 25, 2026
Patty Hajdu
Minister of Jobs and Families
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
Dear Minister Hajdu,
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the recent discussions regarding the definition of work and wage compliance under Part III of the Canada Labour Code. CUPE’s airline workers welcome the government’s efforts to address long-standing concerns surrounding unpaid work in the airline industry and to ensure that all workers receive at least the applicable minimum wage for every hour worked.
As you are likely aware, CUPE raised these issues in the January 19 discussion with your department, and indeed, has raised these concerns consistently for several years. During the discussion, employers were asked a straightforward and fundamental question:
“Are employees paid at least the minimum wage for every hour they work, as defined under IPG-002?”
Once again, that question went unanswered.
For Canada’s flight attendants, the issue is not whether unpaid work exists. We know it does. The central question is whether the current credit pay system complies with minimum wage protections under the Code.
Conceptually, the definition of work is well established. Work consists of activities performed to produce goods or provide services in exchange for compensation. Working time includes all hours during which an employee is at the employer’s call and disposal, including training, while excluding designated rest periods that are not considered work under the Code. These principles are reflected across Canadian labour legislation and internationally recognized standards.
The question is not about the conceptual definition of work, but how these definitions are operationalized in the airline industry.
Flight attendants perform work in a unique environment where travel itself is an essential component of the job. Working time must therefore include all hours spent at the employer’s disposal, regardless of whether operational delays fall within the employer’s direct control.
From our perspective, working time begins when a flight attendant reports for duty at their base airport and ends when they are released from duty and permitted to leave that airport. It includes duties performed prior to departure and following arrival, mandatory training, and other employer-assigned ground duties.
Contractual layover rest periods, during which flight attendants are free to sleep, eat, and prepare for their next assignment, are appropriately excluded.
However, for the purposes of minimum wage compliance, all other duty-related time away from base must be counted as working time. This includes passing through airport security, travelling to assigned aircraft, waiting during operational delays, boarding and safety preparations, time onboard at the gate, flight time, deplaning responsibilities, travel between assignments, waiting for subsequent flights, transportation to hotels prior to rest periods, and time spent on reserve or standby while remaining available to the employer.
Training and other assigned ground duties must also be included.
Excluding any portion of this time – particularly when flight attendants remain under employer direction and cannot freely use that time for their own purposes – would not be consistent with the established definition of work under the Code.
We also believe that, for the purposes of assessing minimum wage compliance, only earnings paid within the credit system should be included when calculating hourly pay.
Per diems, premiums, penalties, benefits, and pension contributions serve distinct purposes. Some reimburse expenses incurred while away from home, while others act as wage protections or penalties when contractual limits are exceeded. These payments are comparable to overtime premiums and do not form part of a worker’s base hourly rate.
For example, a federally regulated employee earning $16 per hour would not be considered compliant with minimum wage requirements simply because overtime earnings occasionally increased overall compensation. With the federal minimum wage now set at $17.75 per hour, compliance is assessed based on base earnings, not intermittent premiums. The same principle should apply to flight attendants working under the credit system.
Before any wage-compliance audit can proceed effectively, there must be a shared and clearly articulated understanding of what constitutes working time in the airline industry. Without that clarity, it will be impossible to accurately assess whether employees are being paid at least minimum wage for every hour worked.
We remain committed to working constructively with the Minister, the Labour Program, and employers to reach an accurate and expedited resolution to this issue. We appreciate the attention you are giving to a matter that has significant implications for thousands of federally regulated workers across Canada.
Should you or your officials wish to discuss these matters further, we would welcome the opportunity.
Sincerely,
Wesley Lesosky
President, Air Canada Component of CUPE &
President, Airline Division of CUPE
cc: John Zerucelli, Secretary of State (Labour)
Kyle Seeback, Member of Parliament
Don Davies, Member of Parliament
Senator Hassan Yussuf
Michael Abbott, Vice President, Labour Relations – Air Canada
Giuseppe Morello, Director Labour Relations – Air Canada
Air Canada Component of CUPE Executive
Airline Division Council of Presidents
Kevin Tyrrell, Component Staff Rep – CUPE National
Hugh Pouliot, Senior Communications Officer – CUPE National
Sylvain Schetagne, Senior Research Officer – CUPE National
Carmela Iermieri, Grievance Committee Chair – Air Canada Component of CUPE
In solidarity,
Your Airline Division Council of Presidents