The airline was set to restart flights on Aug. 17, but the union said the strike would continue.
Air Canada flight attendants say they will remain on strike despite a government order to enter binding arbitration. Meanwhile, the airline says flights will resume on Aug. 18.
Air Canada had initially said flights would resume late on Aug. 17 as the federal government referred negotiations between the airline and the flight attendants’ union to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) for binding arbitration hours after a strike that began just past midnight on Aug. 16.
The airline now says that flights will resume starting in the evening of Aug. 18 after the union “illegally directed its flight attendant members to defy” CIRB’s back-to-work order.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents the flight attendants, has accused Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu of caving to Air Canada’s demands, saying that with expectations of government intervention to end the strike, the airline was not engaging in good-faith negotiations. The union has called the minister’s intervention unconstitutional.
The union said that it will challenge the CIRB’s back-to-work order, and that it invites Air Canada back to the negotiating table to reach a resolution.
The CIRB had directed flight attendants to resume their work by 2 p.m. ET on Aug. 17. The board also ordered the terms of the existing collective agreement remain in place until the two parties signed a new agreement.
Air Canada began winding down operations after the union issued a 72-hour strike notice on Aug. 13, and grounded its more than 700 daily flights by Aug. 16, impacting over 130,000 customers daily.
The strike action of the more than 10,000 flight attendants affected Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, while flights operated by third-party airlines Jazz and PAL remained unaffected.
In announcing her decision to order binding arbitration, Hajdu said she was exercising her “authorities under Section 107 of the Canadian Labour Code” to direct the issue to the CIRB to “secure industrial peace and protect the interests of Canada, Canadians, and the economy.”
At issue is disagreement over wages and ground pay, with flight attendants saying it’s unfair that they don’t get compensated for work done between flights while the plane is grounded, while also demanding higher overall pay.
Air Canada said it has offered what it describes as a 38 percent increase in total compensation over four years, covering wages, pensions, health benefits, and vacation pay.
The union says that inflation has outpaced wages over the past decade, and that the company’s proposal amounts to only a 17.2 percent wage increase over four years.
Air Canada Flights
Air Canada said earlier on Aug. 17 that since it implemented a full shut-down and suspended operations at 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 16, its “aircraft and crew are out of position vis-à-vis the schedule.”
The airline also said earlier that while it was preparing to resume flights by the evening of Aug. 17, it may take several days for operations to return to normal.
The airline now says that flights will resume in the evening of Aug. 18 after the union decided to continue the strike on Aug. 17.
“Customers whose flights are cancelled will be notified and are strongly advised not to go the airport unless they have confirmed flights on other airlines,” Air Canada said.
“Air Canada will offer those with cancelled flights options, including obtaining a full refund or receiving a credit for future travel. The carrier will also offer to rebook customers on other carriers, although capacity is currently limited due to the peak summer travel season.”
‘This Is Not Over’
The union said the federal government’s decision to intervene “will not ensure labour peace,” adding that the action has done “incalculable damage to the Charter and workers’ rights by siding with Air Canada to crush the rights of flight attendants at Air Canada.”
“This is not over,” CUPE President Mark Hancock said in an Aug. 16 statement. “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.”
The Conservatives also criticized the Liberal government for the intervention.
“No worker – federally-regulated or otherwise – should be forced, especially by the government, to work without being paid. Yet, that is exactly what flight attendants are being ordered to do,” Conservative MP and shadow minister for labour Kyle Seeback said in a statement.
“Instead of continuing to attack flight attendants by forcing them back to work, [Prime Minister Mark] Carney should work with Parliament to pass the Conservatives’ Flight Attendants Fairness Act, ensuring workers are paid for the work they do before, during and after a flight.”
NDP Interim Leader Don Davies accused Minister Hajdu of misusing the Labour Code in her order.
“The Liberal govt is again using s. 107 of the Canada Labour Code to order workers back to work. This is a blatant misuse of that section and is being challenged in court,” Davies said on social media.
“They should recall Parliament and democratically debate back to work legislation if they feel it’s justified.”
Minister Hajdu said she needed to intervene as both parties were “so far apart on a number of issues” that they were going to need “some additional help” to reach an agreement.
“It is clear that the parties are not any closer to resolving some of the key issues that remain, and they will need help with an arbitrator,” Hajdu said, saying she needs to “protect the interests of Canada, Canadians, and the economy.”
Chandra Philip, Reuters, and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
Olivia Gomm is a news reporter with the Canadian edition of The Epoch Times.