Pilots show support for Air Canada flight attendants participating in a general strike at Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport on Aug. 16, 2025. Andrej Ivanov/Getty Images
The union representing Air Canada flight attendants says it will continue defying the back-to-work order by the Canada’s Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) as the board said on Aug. 18 that the continued labour action is illegal.
Unionized Air Canada flight attendants have been on strike since Aug. 16 over unmet demands for pay and improved work conditions. Work stoppages have so far led to cancelled flights for about 500,000 passengers, according to the board.
Air Canada had first shared CIRB’s decision the morning of Aug. 18, ruling that the Air Canada chapter of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) must return to work. The order was made publicly available later the same day.
“The union and its officers are ordered to immediately cease all activities that declare or authorize an unlawful strike of its members and to direct the members of the bargaining unit to resume the performance of their duties,” CIRB wrote, adding, “The board’s reasons will be issued to the parties in due course.”
Canada’s Labour Minister Patty Hajdu invoked Section 107 of the Labour Code to ask CIRB to send the two sides to binding arbitration and order an end to the job action. In binding arbitration an independent mediator hears the arguments of both sides and issues a final binding decision resolving the matter.
CIRB ordered striking flight attendants back to work on the afternoon of Aug. 17, but the union ignored the order and filed a challenge against it in Federal Court. This led the airline to cancel around 240 flights on Aug. 17. It also withdrew its financial forecasts for both the third quarter and the year due to the disruption.
CIRB is a semi-independent tribunal which interprets and applies Canada’s labour code. In its ruling, the board said union officials have by 12 p.m. Eastern Time on Aug. 18 to release written notice publicly stating the strike has ended and that unionized flight attendants are back on the job.
Speaking to reporters on Aug. 18, Prime Minister Mark Carney said the failure of negotiations between Air Canada and flight attendants is “disappointing” and urged a quick resolution to the ongoing dispute. He added that “hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors to our country are being disrupted by this action.”
Meanwhile, the Canadian Labour Congress has come out in support of striking flight attendants, saying in a statement Hajdu’s imposition of binding arbitration is “unconstitutional” and vowing “to push back against the government’s attacks on workers’ rights.”
The Air Canada chapter of CUPE and the airline have been in an ongoing labour dispute since the start of the year. So far Air Canada says around 940 flights have been cancelled, with passengers rebooked or given refunds for their tickets.