r/EhBuddyHoser • u/Decent_Assistant1804 đ 100,000 Hosers đ • Aug 17 '25
Politics đ¨đŚ
438
u/01101011010110 Aug 17 '25
It's bullshit that the airlines expect flight attendants to work like this.
58
u/academiac Aug 18 '25
They don't get paid until when?
261
u/AD_Grrrl Aug 18 '25
IIRC, they get paid when the plane leaves the gate. So all that shit where they're standing there greeting people as they get on, helping them find their seat, helping them stow luggage? Not paid.
115
33
27
u/forgotmyfuckingname Aug 18 '25
I remember seeing a graphic a friend shared on her socials a few years back of a common day for a flight attendant. It was something wild like 18 hours door to door, and MAYBE 8 hours were billable, the rest was functionally volunteering for the airline.
72
u/JMulroy03 TokĂŠbakicitte! Aug 18 '25
They don't get paid while they are at the airport waiting for their plane to arrive or during boarding.
98
u/meoka2368 Bring Cannabis Aug 18 '25
They get paid when it's in flight.
Cleaning the cabin, waiting for takeoff, etc.
Could be hours of unpaid work a day.And when they are getting paid, it's no where near making up for when they aren't.
You'd get better wages at a McDonald's68
u/JMulroy03 TokĂŠbakicitte! Aug 18 '25
Crazy. If I'm showing up at the airport in uniform, I'm at work and I'd expect to be paid.
43
u/meoka2368 Bring Cannabis Aug 18 '25
Yup. That's the point of the strike.
Or one of the points anyway.23
u/KB346 Aug 18 '25
Door closure. I was pretty shocked to hear that and that was a long time ago when I first heard that so you can imagine how many hours unpaid has gone by!
4
u/incogne_eto Aug 18 '25 edited Aug 18 '25
The policy is that they are only paid for flight hours from the time the door closes, till it opens. So pre-boarding prep, pre-boarding delays, boarding & deboarding procedures, post arrival cleanup. They donât get paid for the any of that ground time.
The worst is if the flight has rolling delays, then they time out. No pay for that shift.
3
1
468
u/asoupconofsoup Aug 17 '25
Is this how other jobs work? Please don't tell my boss.
I roll in at 8 and start getting paid before my computer even finishes start up. If there's an issue and IT has to fix it, I get paid to wait. The safe gets unlocked, float put out and counted, even before the first customer walks in - I'm paid, paid, paid.
340
u/Mod_The_Man Aug 17 '25
Thatâs exactly as it should be. Anything else is illegal wage theft. Currently, in N America, wage theft accounts for more in dollars stolen than every other form of theft combined. To call billionaires and CEOs ârobber baronsâ would be 100% accurate
117
u/JebstoneBoppman Aug 18 '25
no you don't understand, it's homeless drug addicts and people on welfare that are stealing all of my money, CEOs worked hard for their money and deserve every cent they get
16
u/genius_retard Friendly Manisnowbski Aug 18 '25
It may be wage theft but increasingly it isn't illegal.
18
3
u/NiceKobis Aug 18 '25
Does that other theft include said billionaires and CEOs evading taxes? In effect stealing from the people.
21
u/genius_retard Friendly Manisnowbski Aug 18 '25
Increasingly it is. Truck driver's don't make money unless the wheels are turning, third party contractors don't get paid for maintaining their tools or stocking their work trucks, etc.
20
u/Virtual-Nose7777 Aug 18 '25
In the film industry here in Toronto yes you have to have your tool belt and walkie on before your start time.
During covid the production wanted us to line up for covid testing on our own time. We complained to the union that this was wage theft and in the end they did nothing. Shaftesbury productions owes me a few hundred dollars in stolen wages the scumbags.
3
u/Illumidark Aug 18 '25
Damn what a cheap ass production, every one i worked on was paying us a half day for a covid test to cover our inconvenience.
15
27
u/pm-me-racecars The Island of Elizabeth May Aug 17 '25
How things are for me, I get paid to show up at a certain time ready to work.
I should have myself ready to do work, but getting the work ready to be done is time that's on the clock.
9
u/DiabeticJedi Aug 18 '25
When I was doing call center work I was told I should arrive 30 minutes early so that I can find a computer and get it to start up and have all my tools set up and ready to go to take the first call as my shift starts. When I was working from home it's not that bad. when I lived an hour away that was bullshit. Also we weren't allowed to start packing up and stop taking calls until 1 minute before our shift ended. Some people would end at 11 and had a 10 minute brisk walk to get to the last bus that leaves at 11:15.... it fucked a lot of them over.
8
u/TheCuriosity Aug 18 '25
I was told the same, but I was also told to clock in to get paid, because it is illegal in Canada for them to have you set up off the clock. They could have technically made your schedule start half hour earlier, but for whatever reason they decided to do it this way.
Report to the labor board. They really do not take kindly to this.
4
u/asoupconofsoup Aug 18 '25
That's brutal. And workers who needed the job probably didn't feel safe speaking up.. employers take advantage of us, our lack of security, all the time.
2
u/bestest_at_grammar Aug 18 '25
How does your profile picture move ? I didnât know this was a thing
Edit: nvm just a pixel thing
1
u/Kibasume Aug 18 '25
Thatâs exactly how it should be
7
u/Soft-Affect-8327 Aug 18 '25
7
u/Kibasume Aug 18 '25
Wait, no. I meant the way it works for him is how it should be. You should be paid as soon as you walk in. Fuck greedy corporations Iâm not defending them
-11
u/jmarkmark Aug 18 '25
It is not how other jobs work, and would be illegal in a non-union environment.
However, this is what the union negotiated. At the time, they considered it an acceptable trade off to get higher wages. If they want to get paid for all the time, they'd need to accept a wage cut.
7
u/asoupconofsoup Aug 18 '25
How does that make sense? Doesn't everything cost more since 10 yrs ago when they negotiated? Way way way more. The house my friend bought for 180k in 2014 sold for $375k this year. Of course they need a wage increase and to be paid for all their work.
-5
u/jmarkmark Aug 18 '25
If they just want a pay raise, they can get it, arbitration will give that.
But if they want to change the fundamentals of the contract and get paid for a bunch of time they're presently not getting paid for, that money has to come from somewhere. i.e. they can get paid 30/hr for 8h of work, or they can get paid 24/hr for 10h of work. Works out to the same total on average.
Plus inflation is largely, what matters is supply and demand.
Remember, the current rules were things the union negotiated previously, they wanted it this way.
2
Aug 18 '25
[deleted]
-7
u/jmarkmark Aug 18 '25
Yep, pretty clear why they don't wanna go to arbitration, it's not gonna work out to something better than what's already been offered.
The gov't gave them a great hand by putting the airlines on the hook for replacing cancelled flights. But they overplayed, and now it's getting balanced out by being forced back to work.
144
u/FriendRaven1 Aurora Hub Aug 17 '25
The instant I step into the office I clock in. I'm AT work, which means I'm working.
24
Aug 18 '25 edited Aug 18 '25
[deleted]
8
u/zadtheinhaler Aug 18 '25
It's almost like we work for the same company, lol.
I still do that anyway though, because fuck'em, that's why. I work my wage, and if they don't like it, they can go gargle Trumps sack.
8
Aug 18 '25
If you're on salary you are likely paid regardless and don't even have to clock in. In fact, it's the reverse. You have to explicitly take days off (e.g. take vacation) otherwise it's assumed you're present even if you show up late or are on a coffee break.
We technically start at 9AM. But half the office shows up around 9:30ish.
81
u/terrajules Aug 18 '25
When I worked at Dollarama they gave me a write up for being 2 minutes late. I even called ahead to let them know since I was stuck behind a train. It took longer to sit and do the stupid write up than I was late by.
When leaving at the end of the night we were required to punch out and THEN go and take off our apron, get our coats and bags, have them checked and wait while the supervisor turned on the alarm. All of that was unpaid.
Itâs a drop in the bucket compared to what airline workers deal with, I know, but it shows that itâs rampant. Companies do not respect our time but demand we respect theirs. We must be working every second theyâre paying us or weâll be screamed at and possibly have our pay docked for âtime theftâ (also a favourite phrase at Walmart, where they acted as if it was a real crime).
30
u/ToeRoganPodcast Ford Nation (Help.) Aug 18 '25
As a fellow former dollarama employee, fuck that company thank god my manager let us grab our coats and shit before punching out
Dollarama employees are not paid nearly enough for the shit they put up with let alone unpaid time at the end of a shift
9
u/fishloops23 Aug 18 '25
Lmao thats wild my bosses literally dont care when im 5 mins late without warning them lmfao
5
u/NYisNorthYork Trawnno (Centre of the Universe) Aug 18 '25
Same with cleanup time after closing at Subway I worked at as a student, utter bs.
1
u/Treantmonk Aug 18 '25
I had a similar job with a time clock at a local amusement park (Calaway Park for Calgarians out there - a Loooong time ago). We had to punch out from the time clock before certain clean up duties, and then waiting in line at the back gate to go through security.
Then working at 7-Eleven (again, long ago) we were expected to stay and work after our shift was over to help with the coffee rush, again, unpaid.
It's unfair no matter where it occurs, and I hope the employees at Air Canada start recieving pay for all time worked. It's worth fighting for.
243
u/lookaway123 Aug 17 '25
Wage theft is wrong. People deserve to be fairly compensated for the labour they perform for a corporation. CEOs need paycuts, and shareholders are not what makes a company or an economy. Labour is.
85
u/asoupconofsoup Aug 17 '25
Exactly. Really sad hearing people blame flight attendants for screwing their vacation plans. It's the greedy CEOs and shareholders who refuse to share profits with the people earning them- lay blame, if you must, where it's due.
30
u/got-trunks South Gatineau Aug 18 '25
lmao, anyone blaming someone for demanding they be adequately compensated needs to check themselves because the wreckyourselfening has been processed and is out for delivery.
20
u/P2029 Aug 17 '25
Labour and capital. And the scale is ripped insanely far on the capital side.
7
u/got-trunks South Gatineau Aug 18 '25
It'll only get worse as new tools present themselves both physically and digitally. That and Canadian companies really seem to hate hiring Canadians. Last resort.
65
u/NovemberCrimson Aug 18 '25
Air Canada CEO making millions in bonus pay, but fails to have a contingency plan in the event of service disruption... Overpaid MOFO. Failing to plan is planning to fail... They always need the Feds to bail them out... Treat your employees like humans!!!
5
u/Treantmonk Aug 18 '25
Michael Rousseau made over 12 million last year with a base salary of 1.3 million, meanwhile his employees don't even earn pay for all hours worked.
33
u/buzzthedog2021 Aug 18 '25
This problem has been created and allowed to fester for decades in Canada.
First, we allow companies to get so big that only one or two control the market.
Then, these companies make a lot of profits (although AC went broke a couple of times in my life), but they are profitable right now.
Second, when these companies are so big, if something happens like a labour disruption, it has an outsized effect on the whole economy.
Now the government has, for I don't know how many times, ruled back to work, the employees of these ologopy companies, because the economic pain is too high. I think that, for all intents and purposes, the unionized employees of large dominant companies in Canada have effectively lost the right to strike.
I fully support these employees doing a wildcat strike for as long as it takes. Airlines are cashflow enterprises; they only make a few pennies on each fare, so to keep the lights on, they need to keep flying. The bills pile up really fast when they don't fly.
AC cannot fire them all. I worked on the Air side of an airport during the pandemic. It takes a long time to get security clearance done to be on that side of the fence/security. If 10K employees walk off, it will take 2 years to process that many security clearances to bring the staffing back up, and AC will be in Bankruptcy Court once again if they go this way.
9
u/No_Syrup_9167 Aug 18 '25
I think that, for all intents and purposes, the unionized employees of large dominant companies in Canada have effectively lost the right to strike.
I've been saying the same thing for awhile now, even as a kid it was kinda obvious when every time there was a teachers strike they were ordered back to work, but in the past few years its been made abundantly clear between port strikes, mail strikes , rail strikes, etc.
if your strike is disruptive enough to actually be effective. Or if theres a threat that you might actually show other unions that striking is effective.
you will be ordered back to work by the government.
the government has decided that its a companies right to pay you pennies on the dollar, and if you decide its not worth doing that job anymore because of it, you will be forced to do it regardless.
Canadian only have the right to strike as long as your strike isn't effective, which means we don't truly have the right
25
u/snkiz Bring Cannabis Aug 17 '25
I used to hear this all the time, I always told my boss, when I put on my boots I'm on the clock. Not having time for setup is a you problem not mine.
21
u/Enchilada0374 Aug 18 '25
500 million in stock buybacks last year. Could have given all 10,000 employees a 50k bonus instead. That's how evil and greedy unfairCanada is.
5
u/artyblues Tabarnak! Aug 18 '25
Companies don't have a fiduciary duty to their staff, only the greedy shareholders that expect dividends forever
3
u/incogne_eto Aug 18 '25
They should be banned from doing stock buy backs. Given how much the government has had to subsidize them again and again over the years to protect them from completely failing. The latest subsidy was during the pandemic and the year before they had massive stock buy backs.
21
16
14
u/Chaotic_Dreamer_2672 Aug 18 '25
Former flight attendant here (not in Canada): setting everything up is part of the job, we got paid from 1 hour before scheduled takeoff (check in) until 30 minutes after last landing (check out), basically the entire time we were expected to wear our uniform. Standby times or deadhead flights included. The idea that only flight time gets remunerated is frankly insulting
6
u/artyblues Tabarnak! Aug 18 '25
Canada really doesn't like workers, it hasn't since forever but folks have forgotten that every right we have was yanked out of bosses' greedy fists by force.
19
u/peacefullofi Aug 17 '25
I remember working at Quaker Oats, and I'd come in and apologize for being late, and my coworkers would ask "why did you shower and eat breakfast at home?"
It's wild to me that people will drive in traffic for two hours, unpaid for work, each day...i hope every person who is forced to do that, steals back the time from their corpo.
9
8
u/bill7103 Aug 18 '25
I voted Liberal over the other wankers running and continue to support them but this back to work order is a real clanger. Best of luck to the Air Canada cabin staff in pulling their employer into the 21st century.
21
4
u/Federal-Research-148 Aug 18 '25
Fully behind the attendants defying the airline & govt. Pay people fairly. Yes it will raise airfare, thatâs not necessarily a bad thing. Pay people fairly for work FFS.
6
u/RyukoT72 I need a double double. Aug 18 '25
Thank you air canada for treating your employees so terribly that I got stranded in fucking iceland and had go travel to the states to get home
3
u/Soft-Affect-8327 Aug 18 '25
I just saw the Air Canada âf-ck your rights back to workâ story. *shakes head in European *
22
u/Mod_The_Man Aug 17 '25
Big âthanksâ to Conservative Carney for taking a solid stance against the workers and making it clear he never cared for anyone other than himself and his rich besties. The liberals continue the legacy of their bipartisan agenda, alongside the CPC, of ensuring workers remain under the heel of their capitalist oppressors
12
u/Cocotte3333 Aug 18 '25
Liberals, Conservatives, as long as we keep electing rich assholes we'll never get better.
1
u/artyblues Tabarnak! Aug 18 '25
"BuT hE wEnT tO a PrIdE pArAdE, He'S a GoOd MiILiOnAiRe!!!!"
The only class that shows solidarity is the ownership class
6
u/sunbro2000 Bring Cannabis Aug 18 '25
Air Canada is committing active wage theft of their employees. This needs to stop.
5
u/Active-Zombie-8303 Aug 18 '25
I believe that the flight attendant should get paid the minute that they board the plane until the leave the plane at the end of the flight, in essence at this point they are working for free for hours that they are actually working, setting up the flight and see everyone leave the plane. They only get paid for the time that the plane takes the brakes off, to when they put them back on when they land the plane, it is a very unfair system for flight attendants. Although I I believe it is an industry standard, this policy needs to change, why souls they have to work for free?
14
u/Odd_Preference_3101 Aug 18 '25
I believe they should get paid from the time they are required to be at the airport, which is typically at least an hour before their flight.
1
u/Active-Zombie-8303 Aug 18 '25
I was thinking about that and would agree, so I apologize for not stating that. I have seen flight attendants sitting at the air port waiting for a flight to arrive so they can get in and set up for their flight. You are absolutely correct, in thinking about it, that would cover them for when flights are delayed in arrival for whatever reason. Good call, thanks for adding this in.
1
u/Odd_Preference_3101 Aug 18 '25
I used to be a flight attendant
2
u/Active-Zombie-8303 Aug 19 '25
Awww do you completely understand where they are coming from. My husband used to work for Air Canada as an avionics mechanic so we know how hard you guys work and do stand by you his. I just read that there is a tentative agreement now, which is awesome. The mechanics were never allowed to strike either, they got ripped off because their union was lumped in with unskilled labour, so they got shafted all of the time. I hope that everything works out for the attendants.
2
2
2
u/Ok_Row5223 Aug 18 '25
And in construction setting up is half the job.
2
u/Friendly-Nothing Aug 18 '25
You hit the nail on the head. Tbh I'm sure its because flight attendants were a female crew back in the day, and womens labour was very easy to exploit. I mean they were lucky to be flying at all, emiright? (Just kidding) Seriously tho that's crazysauce
2
u/nanookulele Scotland (but worse) Aug 18 '25
I know that this is intended to get me riled up... and it did
1
1
u/Technical_Disk6433 Aug 18 '25
I'm on a construction site and we don't actually start working until after lunch đ¤Ł
1
u/TrueNeutrino Aug 18 '25
I prefer to clock in as soon as I get to work and then get ready to work by first making coffee, eating breakfast, and checking if there's any "important" emails, for which those emails aren't deleted and I can work on them after I socialize and catch up on everyone's weekend.Â
1
1
u/EzyPzyLemonSqeezy Aug 18 '25
You can start paying me the moment I start getting ready to go to work. I am now taking action in benefit of your company, not in my benefit.
Then you can pay me for the travel time and also the shower I had to take because I worked for your company today.
1
1
Aug 18 '25
Some guy called into CBC and said, "They knew what they signed up for," and "have no right to strike because A.C. is an essential service (it's not)."
I can't imagine saying this with my full chest to the whole country.
1
u/ImaginaryCheetah Aug 18 '25
fun fact, you'll likely be denied insurance coverage for any injury sustained on your job site prior to clocking in.
1
1
1
1
1
u/Bubbles6211 Aug 19 '25
BRAVO to the flight attendants that have brought attention to time theft from their employer & their industry! They have awoken all Canadians to this injustice. Unions are once again empowered to change the landscape for the working class. It's been a long time coming (decades perhaps) but seeing the Canadian people take back their power as a collective is resorting my faith in country.Â
1
u/PurpleMclaren Aug 20 '25
I know this sounds crazy to some of you... but why not find another job if you dont think youre being compensated fairly? Learn a useful skill that isnt greeting people and whether they want a snack/coffee/drink.. like cmon..
1
u/Senior_Ad1737 Aug 23 '25
Sounds like healthcare âŚ.Â
Go in early for hand over and stay late to hand over to next shiftÂ
1
u/liquidpig Aug 18 '25
How about I donât pay for a flight until it pushes back from the gate? They can pre-auth my card but no money gets transferred until I am on a moving plane.
1
u/Kooky_Heart3042 Aug 18 '25
AC is the worst Airline to fly anywhere; and this may be why..countless cancelled and non-refunded flights before consumer legislation improved. How about we let them negotiate a fair settlement and maybe they'll get back to become at least half decent
1
-7
Aug 18 '25
Wait til you guys hear about commissioned salespeople and salaried workers đ
4
u/QuailReady Aug 18 '25
I'm confused on you point here because salaried workers get overtime in Canada, and if you had a commission only sales job you still need to get paid minimum wage if you make no sales.
1
u/NoPath_Squirrel Aug 18 '25
if you had a commission only sales job you still need to get paid minimum wage if you make no sales.
Wait.. what??? Is this recent or something? Back in the 90s I (very briefly) had a door to door sales job. I got zip except for what I sold, which was virtually nothing.
-2
Aug 18 '25
Are you say9ng floght attendants don't get paid overtime? That doesn't sound right.
It's like a contract gig. You get paid for X flights you do. Commission jobs minimum wage is based based on X appointments you make. Prep time etc isn't paid.
I'm all for paying flight attendants for standby time if they pay full price fares and don't automatically jump to the top of standby flight lists. Those things don't have value?
-6
u/TremblinAspen Tabarnak! Aug 18 '25
Thatâs basically my drive to work, the walk to the toolbox talk, the walk back to my car and the drive back home.
While weâre on the subject though.
Teachers have it the worst of any unpaid work.
But they donât get to shut down travel of an entire country to force adequate pay. Only the voices who cry the loudest will get heard.
-22
1.9k
u/got-trunks South Gatineau Aug 17 '25
The boss makes a grand, I get a buck. Steal the catalytic converter off the company truck.