Air Canada flight attendant union refuses to end strike
The Canada Industrial Relations Board decision ordered the union to send its members back to work by 12:00 EST (16:00GMT) on Monday, and also directed the members to return to their duties.It is unclear what consequences the CUPE now faces for its defiance.At a news conference, Mr Hancock said the union is willing to accept any penalties for its refusal to comply, including monetary fines and jail time."If it means folks like me going to jail, then so be it," he told reporters, adding that the union will only accept to resolve this through a negotiated settlement at the bargaining table. Under Canadian law, the union and individual workers could be fined or sanctioned for refusing to return to work, Western University law professor Michael Lynk told Reuters.Prime Minister Mark Carney said it was "disappointing" that Air Canada and its cabin crew were unable to reach an agreement after eight months of negotiations. "We are in a situation where literally hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors to our country are being disrupted by this action," Carney said in Ottawa on Monday. "I urge both parties to resolve this as quickly as possible."The airline estimates some 500,000 passengers have so far been affected by flight cancellations.Flight attendants are calling for higher salaries and to be paid for work when aircraft are on the ground.on Saturday, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu ordered binding arbitration to end the dispute. CUPE made the rare move of directing its members to ignore a back-to-work order on Sunday and accused the government of "caving to corporate pressure".
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MONTREAL, Aug 18 (Reuters) - A leader of the union on strike against Air Canada ( opens new tab said on Monday he would risk jail time rather than allow cabin crews to be forced back to work by a federal labor board, raising the stakes in a battle that has disrupted flights for hundreds of thousands of travelers during tourist season. The Canadian Union of Public Employees said the strike would continue until the carrier negotiates on wages and unpaid work, even after the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) declared the strike unlawful. "If it means folks like me going to jail, then so be it. If it means our union being fined, then so be it. We're looking for a solution here," said Mark Hancock, CUPE national president, at a press conference after a deadline by the board to return to work expired with no union action to end the strike. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pleaded for a resolution. A domestic tourism boom has helped blunt the economic damage from tariffs imposed by Canada's biggest trade partner, the United States, and Air Canada is the country's biggest carrier. "We are in a situation where literally hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors to our country are being disrupted by this action," Carney told reporters in Ottawa. "I urge both parties to resolve this as quickly as possible." Hancock said the union has not heard from the federal jobs minister or Air Canada since Friday. The third day of a strike by more than 10,000 flight attendants has stranded passengers and led Air Canada to suspend its third-quarter and full-year 2025 guidance, sending shares down nearly 3%. The airline has earned lower profit due to fewer bookings to the United States. The carrier, which normally carries 130,000 people daily and is part of the global Star Alliance of airlines, had planned to start ramping up operations on Sunday evening, after CIRB ordered the union to return to work and start binding arbitration. In a message to cabin crew on Sunday seen by Reuters, an Air Canada executive told workers they would be accountable for defying the board's order and not returning to work. "What your union has not explained is that by not returning to work, you are personally accountable for that decision," said Andrew Yiu, vice president, in-flight service, for Air Canada's mainline and low-cost Rouge service. "To be clear, there is no lockout in place, and the continued strike is illegal." The flight attendants, who are pushing for a negotiated contract, are striking for wages similar to those earned by cabin crews at Canadian carrier Air Transat ( opens new tab, and to be fully paid for work on the ground, such as boarding passengers. "I can tell you that if Air Canada thinks that planes will be flying this afternoon, they're sorely mistaken. That won't be happening today," Hancock said. Michael Lynk, professor emeritus of law at Western University in London, Ontario, said there are provisions in the Canada Labour Code that give the board and the court the right to issue fines and sanctions against the union and against individual workers. Crew are mostly paid when planes are moving, sparking demands by unions in the U.S. and Canada to change the model, and generating some vocal support from passengers on social media. While passengers have largely expressed support for the flight attendants, some are growing weary of the uncertainty. Danna Wu, 35, said she and her husband will have no choice but to drive from Winnipeg to Vancouver if the strike persists for a visa appointment. Although she believes Air Canada should pay its attendants more, the master's student at the University of Manitoba added, 'It's not responsible to strike and leave thousands of passengers in such chaos.' Air Canada's demands on unpaid work follow gains recently won by flight attendants in the United States. New labor agreements at American Airlines (AAL.O), opens new tab and Alaska Airlines (ALK.N), opens new tab legally require carriers to start the clock for paying flight attendants when passengers are boarding. The government's options to force an end to the strike include asking courts to enforce the order to return to work and seeking an expedited hearing. The minority government could also try to pass legislation that would need the support of political rivals and approval in both houses of parliament, which are on break until September 15, but has so far been cautious. "The government will be very reticent to be too heavy-handed because in Canada, the Supreme Court has ruled that governments have to be very careful when they take away the right to strike, even for public sector workers that may be deemed essential," said Dionne Pohler, a professor of dispute resolution at Cornell University. The previous Canadian government intervened last year to head off rail and dock strikes that threatened to cripple the economy, but it is highly unusual for a union to defy a CIRB order. 'If you're going to fine us or you're going to try and take us on financially, then you can take us to court, and we can see where that plays out,' said Hancock.
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The strike at Canada's largest airline entered its third day on Monday and is affecting about 130,000 travellers per day during the peak summer travel season. The two sides remain far apart on pay and other issues. Air Canada suspended plans to restart operations on Sunday after the union defied an earlier return-to-work order. 'The members of the union's bargaining unit are directed to resume the performance of their duties immediately and to refrain from engaging in unlawful strike activities,' the Canada Industrial Relations Board board, or CIRB, said in a written decision. The board, an independent administrative tribunal that interprets and applies Canada's labour laws, said the union needs to provide written notice to all of its members by noon on Monday that they must resume their duties. It was not immediately clear what recourse the board or the government has if the union continues to refuse. 'We are in a situation where literally hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors to our country are being disrupted by this action,' Prime Minister Mark Carney said. 'I urge both parties to resolve this as quickly as possible.' Mr Carney said his jobs minister would have more to say later. He said it was disappointing that talks have not led to a deal, and added that it is important that flight attendants are compensated fairly at all times. The labour board previously ordered airline staff back to work by 2pm on Sunday and for the union to enter arbitration, after the government intervened. Air Canada then said it planned to resume flights on Sunday evening. But when the workers refused, the airline said it would resume flights on Monday evening instead. However, there was no sign that the Canadian Union of Public Employees, or Cupe, would relent. Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day. Cupe national president Mark Hancock on Sunday had ripped up a copy of the initial back-to-work order outside Toronto's Pearson International Airport, and said members would not go back to work this week, to the cheers of picketing flight attendants. Flight attendants walked off the job around 1am EDT on Saturday, after turning down the airline's request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which allows a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract. Air Canada and Cupe have been in contract talks for about eight months, but remain far apart on the issue of pay and the unpaid work that flight attendants do when planes are not in the air. The airline's latest offer included a 38% increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions, over four years, that it said 'would have made our flight attendants the best compensated in Canada'. But the union pushed back, saying the proposed 8% raise in the first year did not go far enough because of inflation. Passengers whose flights are impacted will be eligible to request a full refund on the airline's website or mobile app, according to Air Canada. Last year, the government forced the country's two major railroads into arbitration with their labour union during a work stoppage. The union for the rail workers is suing, arguing the government is removing a union's leverage in negotiations.
