Air Canada flight attendants aren’t backing down after the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) declared a strike by 10,000 Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants unlawful Monday and ordered them again on the job.
Mark Hancock, president of the Canadian Union of Public Workers, mentioned in a information convention in Montreal on Monday that the union will stay on strike.
“We’re telling our flight attendants we’ll help them,” Hancock mentioned.
CIRB declared a strike by 10,000 Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants unlawful Monday and ordered them again on the job after they ignored an earlier order to return to work and undergo arbitration.
The strike at Canada’s largest airline entered its third day on Monday and is affecting about 130,000 vacationers per day through the peak summer time journey season, and the 2 sides stay far aside on pay and different points. Air Canada suspended plans to restart operations Sunday after the union defied an earlier return-to-work order.
“The members of the union’s bargaining unit are directed to renew the efficiency of their duties instantly and to chorus from partaking in illegal strike actions,” the Canada Industrial Relations Board board, or CIRB, mentioned in a written determination.
The board, an impartial administrative tribunal that interprets and applies Canada’s labor legal guidelines, mentioned the union wants to offer written discover to all of its members by midday Monday that they need to resume their duties.
It was not instantly clear what recourse the board or the Canadian authorities has within the face of the union’s continued refusal.
“We’re in a state of affairs the place actually lots of of hundreds of Canadians and guests to our nation are being disrupted by this motion,” Prime Minister Mark Carney mentioned. “I urge each events to resolve this as shortly as potential.”
Requested on Monday what sort of repercussions the union was prepared to face for its defiance of the labor board’s return to works orders, Hancock mentioned, “There isn’t any restrict. We’ll keep sturdy.”
“If it means people like me going to jail, then so be it,” he added.
Regardless of refusing to adjust to the back-to-work order, Hancock additionally mentioned the union is dedicated to reaching a deal.
Air Canada had canceled 600 flights as of 4:03 p.m. Japanese Time on Monday, in accordance with FlightAware.com. Air Canada Rouge had 131 flight cancellations, the flight monitoring and knowledge supplier confirmed.
Second return-to-work order
Air Canada’s plans to restart operations have been first suspended on Sunday after the union mentioned it might defy a return to work order. The strike was already affecting about 130,000 vacationers per day through the peak summer time journey season.
CIRB had first ordered airline workers again to work by 2 p.m. Sunday after the federal government intervened and Air Canada mentioned it deliberate to renew flights Sunday night.
Canada’s largest airline initially mentioned early on Monday that it might resume flights that night, including in a press release that the union “illegally directed its flight attendant members to defy a path from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board.”
After the Canadian union’s second refusal to finish its work stoppage, the airline up to date its web site Monday afternoon to say that Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge operations stay suspended.
“Rolling cancellations now prolong till 16:00 EDT of August 19, 2025,” a press release on Air Canada’s web site learn.
“Over half one million clients have been impacted by this unlawful strike, and we wish to see an finish to it,” Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau informed BNN Bloomberg on Monday.
The labor board first ordered airline workers again to work by 2 p.m. Sunday and for the union to enter arbitration, after the federal government intervened. Air Canada then mentioned it deliberate to renew flights Sunday night. However when the employees refused, the airline mentioned it might resume flights Monday night as a substitute. Nevertheless, there was no signal that the Canadian Union of Public Workers, or CUPE, would relent.
Air Canada operates round 700 flights per day.
What Air Canada is providing
Union chief Hancock on Sunday had ripped up a duplicate of the preliminary back-to-work order exterior Toronto’s Pearson Worldwide Airport, and mentioned members would not return to work this week, to the cheers of picketing flight attendants.
Flight attendants walked off the job round 1 a.m. Japanese Time on Saturday after turning down the airline’s request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which permits a third-party mediator to resolve the phrases of a brand new contract.
Air Canada and CUPE have been in contract talks for about eight months, however stay far aside on the difficulty of pay and the unpaid work that flight attendants do when planes aren’t within the air.
The airline’s newest supply included a 38% enhance in complete compensation, together with advantages and pensions, over 4 years. That deal “would have made our flight attendants the very best compensated in Canada,” in accordance with the service.
However the union pushed again, saying the proposed 8% elevate within the first 12 months did not go far sufficient due to inflation.
“Air Canada’s supposed restart of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, which have been grounded since Aug. 16 by CUPE’s labour disruption, was prevented on Aug. 17 by the CUPE management’s illegal strike actions,” Air Canada mentioned in a press release on Monday. “Air Canada regrets this impression on its clients and is absolutely dedicated to returning to service as quickly as potential.”
The airline now estimates 500,000 clients’ flights have been canceled consequently. Passengers whose flights are impacted will probably be eligible to request a full refund on the airline’s web site or cellular app, in accordance with Air Canada.
Final 12 months, the federal government compelled the nation’s two main railroads into arbitration with their labor union throughout a piece stoppage. The union for the rail employees is suing, arguing the federal government is eradicating a union’s leverage in negotiations.
Air Canada clients can discover extra data on the airline’s web site: www.aircanada.com
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