Air Canada is facing a near-total shutdown as its flight attendants union went on strike after talks over pay and unpaid work broke down. Photo by Graham Hughes/EPA
Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Air Canada on Sunday delayed plans to resume limited operations after flight attendants defied a government-mandated back-to-work order and binding arbitration.
Limited service instead will resume on Monday night, the airline said in a news release Sunday.
Flight attendants with Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge originally were ordered to return to shifts by 2 p.m. Sunday, CBC reported.
The 10,000 flight attendants remain on strike, which began after midnight Saturday.
Related
"We invite Air Canada back to the table to negotiate a fair deal, rather than relying on the federal government to do their dirty work for them when bargaining gets a little bit tough," the Canadian Union of Public Employees said in a statement.
"We have received overwhelming support from the public and Union workers everywhere," the union posted on Facebook. "This is an historic moment for labor and for workers across the country."
CUPE National President Mark Hancock ripped up the order Sunday in front of a cheering crowd outside Toronto's Pearson International Airport.
"We will continue to fight on the picket lines, on the streets, at the bargaining table, in the courts, and in Parliament, until the injustice of unpaid work is done for good," he said Saturday in a union news release. "Workers will win -- despite the best effort of the Liberal government and their corporate friends."
On Saturday, 12 hours after the strike, Jobs Minister Patty Haju invoked Section 107 of the Canadian Labor Code, which directs the Canadian Relations Board to arbitrate the dispute and extended the terms of the existing agreement until a new one is determined by an arbiter. The contract expired on March 31.
"We will be challenging this blatantly unconstitutional order that violates the Charter rights of 10,000 flight attendants, 70 percent of whom are women, and 100 percent of whom are forced to do hours of unpaid work by their employer every time they come to work," the union said in a statement.
Air Canada said the union "illegally directed its flight attendants to defy a direction" from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to return to work.
The carrier said it planned to resume approximately 240 of its normal 700 flights a day, though it would take seven to 10 days for the schedule to "stabilize."
More than 130,000 travelers worldwide fly on the airline daily.
Canada's largest airline includes 170 international ones, and from 50 Canadian airports. Between more than 50 U.S. airports and Canada, the company averages about 430 daily flights.
Air Canada Express, with 300 regional flights, is operated by Jazz Aviation and PAl Airlines, is not affected.
Customers will be notified about canceled flights and are strongly advised not to go the airport unless they have confirmed flights on other airlines.
Those on canceled flights can obtain a full refund or receive a credit for future travel.
Also, the carrier will offer to rebook customers on other carriers, although capacity is limited because of the peak summer travel season.
Flight attendants went on strike at 12:58 a.m. EDT Saturday and the company locked them out at 1:30 a.m.
The flight attendants and their supporters were on picket lines throughout Canada.
The last negotiations were on Friday night, and no new talks were scheduled.
"Air Canada and CUPE flight attendants are at an impasse and remain unable to resolve their dispute," she said in a statement released Saturday afternoon Eastern time. "Canadians are increasingly finding themselves in very difficult situations and the strike is rapidly impacting the Canadian economy."
"This decision will help make sure that hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors to our country are not impacted because of cancelled flights. Further, the shipments of critical goods such as pharmaceuticals and organ tissue, over 40% of which are moved by Air Canada, should continue to reach their destinations," she said.
On Wednesday, the airline served the union a statutory 72-hour lockout notice in response to the union's 72-hour strike notice.
Air Canada was canceling flights ahead of the work stoppage.
"I don't think anyone's in the mood to go back to work," Lillian Speedie, vice president of CUPE Local 4092, told CBC at a picket line outside Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga on Sunday. "To legislate us back to work 12 hours after we started? I'm sorry, snowstorms have shut down Air Canada for longer than we were allowed to strike."
The Air Canada union asked the jobs minister to direct the parties to enter into binding arbitration.
But on Saturday afternoon, the union blasted the order to end the strike and posted images and video strikers. More visuals were posted Sunday.
"This sets a terrible precedent. Contrary to the Minister's remarks, this will not ensure labor peace at Air Canada," the union said Saturday.
Air Canada has become dependent on the federal government to solve its labor-relations issues, Steven Tufts, associate professor and labour geographer at York University, told CBC.
"Air Canada has to learn not to call mommy and daddy every time they reach an impasse at the bargaining table," Tufts said. "They have to actually sit down and get a deal done with their workers."
In 2024, Air Canada asked for the government to be ready to step in but the two sides reached a tentative agreement.
Flight attendants want to be compensated for work before the flights take off and after they land. Typically with most airlines, they get paid only for the hours they are in the air.
