Air Canada remains grounded as union defies order to get back to work amid cabin crew strike
Flight attendants are striking for better wages and to be paid for work on the ground. They are currently paid only when planes are moving.
MONTREAL - Air Canada's fleet of hundreds of planes remained grounded on the morning of Aug 18 after striking flight attendants refused a government-backed order to get back to work and called on the airline to return to the bargaining table.
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 Aug 17 evening, after a labour relations board ordered the union to return to work and start binding arbitration.
The union said no, setting up an almost unprecedented stand-off with the Canadian government, which had requested the back-to-work order.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents 10,000 Air Canada cabin crew, had pushed for a negotiated solution, saying binding arbitration would take pressure off the airline.
The attendants are
striking for better wages and to be paid for work on the ground, such as boarding passengers. They currently are only paid when planes are moving, sparking vocal support from some Canadians on social media.
CUPE invited Air Canada back to the table to 'negotiate a fair deal', calling the order to end its strike unconstitutional. The airline said it would delay plans to restart operations until the evening of Aug 18, and described the union as illegally defying the labour board.
The government's options to end the strike now include asking courts to enforce the order to return to work and seeking an expedited hearing.
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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 Sept 15.
'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 Professor Dionne Pohler, professor of dispute resolution at Cornell University's Industrial and Labour Relations School.
Another option is to encourage bargaining, Prof Pohler said.
The government did not respond to requests for comment.
On Aug 16, Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal government moved to end the strike by asking the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to order binding arbitration.
CIRB issued the order, which Air Canada had sought, and unionised flight attendants opposed.
The previous government, under then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, intervened in 2024 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.
CUPE said its rejection was unprecedented when such an order was made according to rules, known as Section 107, that the government invoked in this case.
Travellers at Toronto Pearson International Airport over the weekend said they were confused and frustrated about when they would be able to fly.
Italian Francesca Tondini, 50, sitting at the Toronto airport, said she supported the union even though she had no idea when she would be able to return home.
'They are right,' she said with a smile, pointing at the striking attendants.
The dispute between cabin crew members and Air Canada hinges on the way airlines compensate flight attendants. Most, including Air Canada, have traditionally paid them only when planes are in motion.
In their latest contract negotiations, flight attendants in both Canada and the United States have sought compensation for hours worked, including for tasks such as boarding passengers.
New labour agreements at American Airlines and Alaska Airlines legally require carriers to start the clock for paying flight attendants when passengers are boarding.
American Airlines' flight attendants are now also compensated for some hours between flights. United Airlines' cabin crew members, who voted down a tentative contract deal in July, also want a similar provision. REUTERS
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CNA
23 minutes ago
- CNA
Commentary: AI can boost Singapore's productivity, but let's not lose the point of work
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While the ambition is clear, the challenge lies in how it will be implemented in the workplace. A recent multi-country study found that only 19 per cent of firms in Singapore have adopted artificial intelligence or machine learning tools. That means there's significant room for future adoption. But if the implementation isn't handled thoughtfully, AI risks stripping work of its meaning and purpose, reducing our sense of mastery and leaving us feeling like cogs in a machine. The central question for Singapore's AI future, therefore, shouldn't be about using the latest AI tools. What truly matters is how we integrate AI thoughtfully into our personal and professional lives, so that AI enhances – rather than erodes – the meaning and purpose we derive from our work. A CAMERA DOES NOT MAKE SOMEONE A PHOTOGRAPHER When we hear 'AI adoption' in the name of productivity, the first thing that comes to mind is automation – technology doing things faster and cheaper. 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What matters is whether we see the tool merely as an instrument of utility or as an extension of our creativity and judgment. AI is no different. Too often, people want to use it as a crutch to 'do everything for them'. But AI makes mistakes, just like humans. And yet we are prone to defer our own judgments to computer systems – even in trivial matters. As an example, I once tried to order bubble tea without ice. The cashier refused. Not because it was hard to do, but because 'the system' wouldn't allow it. All she had to do was not put ice into the cup. Instead, she refused because 'the system' (i.e. the cash register) would not allow her to key in the order for an iceless drink. This might seem trivial (and bizarre), but it tells us how easily we humans are willing to surrender our agency to a machine. WHAT IS AGENCY? Agency, at its core, is the psychological conviction that we have the freedom and the ability to shape our environment. 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As long as we remain engaged – actively steering, questioning and shaping what we do alongside AI – then we can be assured that these tools will amplify our human potential and creativity, rather than diminish it. This is very much how an artist is able to create beautiful works of art with a mere pencil.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
‘Disastrous, useless': New Zealand to overhaul high school qualification to lift falling standards
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Headmaster of privately-run Scots College Graeme Yule welcomed the reforms for adding more rigour and competition into the system. – Disastrous, terrible and useless. This is how Dr Jamie Beaton, co-founder of consultancy Crimson Education, described New Zealand's high school national qualification, which has been put on the chopping block by the Education Minister recently. Dr Beaton, who has 11 degrees from top universities around the world including Harvard and Oxford, did not hold back as he described to The Straits Times how grade inflation and dependence on internal assessments had made 'school easy' and the qualification 'fairly worthless' on the world stage. The chief executive of Crimson Education, which helps high school students from New Zealand and other countries, including Singapore, secure places at the world's top universities, has long viewed the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) as putting local students at a disadvantage. It has been the main qualification for high school students since 2002. NCEA was designed to be flexible and standards-based, catering to both academic and vocational pathways , including trades, hospitality and tourism . Each standard represents a specific set of skills and knowledge, and students earn credits when they achieve those standards. When they accumulate enough credits, they will earn an NCEA certificate or endorsement. Both internal assessments and external exams contribute to students' final grades. 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Singapore 18 persons nabbed and 82 vapes seized in HSA ops in Raffles Place and Haji Lane Singapore 3 Sengkang Green Primary pupils suspended for bullying classmate, with 1 of them caned: MOE Singapore Woman trapped between train doors: Judge rules SBS Transit '100% responsible' Singapore Religion growing in importance for Singaporeans: IPS study Life Record number of arts patrons in 2024, but overall donation dips to $45.74m Life 'Loss that's irreplaceable': Local film-makers mourn closure of Singapore indie cinema The Projector Singapore Nearly 2 years' jail, caning for man caught with at least 100 sexually explicit videos of children Singapore Grab users in Singapore shocked by fares of over $1,000 due to display glitch Addressing the mounting concerns about NCEA's credibility, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Education Minister Erica Stanford announced on Aug 4 sweeping reforms to the national qualification. Under the plan, NCEA will be replaced by a more traditional subject-based qualification for Years 11 to 13 (ages 15 to 18). Students would study five core subjects per year, with learning assessed mainly through national external examinations in Years 12 and 13. This marks a big shift away from NCEA's current credit-based model where students take a mix of internal assessments, projects and exams. The reforms aim to address the longstanding criticism that NCEA is too fragmented and inconsistent, allowing students to 'credit shop' by picking easier assessments to pass. Ms Stanford said: 'I didn't know why you can get credits for having a part-time job or filling in forms, and I didn't understand why kids say that they don't need to go to exams or participate in chunks of their learning because they already have enough credits.' The new system will also introduce an A-to-E grading scale from zero to 100, eliminating the current grading of 'unachieved, achieved, merit and excellence'. The government hopes the new grading would be easier to understand for parents, employers and overseas universities. The reforms, under consultation until mid-September, are set for a phased roll-out from 2028 to 2030. The new curriculum will be taught from 2026 and will affect students entering Year 9 that year. Since coming to power in late 2023, the coalition government led by the National Party has made lifting educational standards its education priority amid concerns over declining achievement statistics. It has introduced new mathematics and English curricula and made teaching structured literacy skills compulsory in primary schools. It has also stopped building open-layout classrooms as they were too noisy and distracting for children. Despite these changes, concerns remain about student outcomes at the high school level. New Zealand high schoolers recorded their worst-ever results in the last Programme for International Student Assessment released in December 2023, including a significant 15-point drop in maths score. The international study, conducted every three years by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, placed Singapore at the top of the league among 81 countries in maths, science and reading. New Zealand ranked 10th in reading, 11th in science and 23rd in maths. In addition, the latest school-leaver data in New Zealand also underscores the urgency for reform. Despite a slight improvement in 2024, achievement levels have been declining since 2020, with only 55.5 per cent leaving school with an NCEA Level 3 qualification (equivalent to A-level) in 2024. Mr Graeme Yule, headmaster of Scots College in Wellington, told ST that under the current system, many students skip exams and some schools stop their students from taking external exams to increase their pass rate. Scots College is a private school that offers both NCEA and IB programmes. Welcoming the reforms, Mr Yule said: 'I like the fact they are adding more rigour. I like the fact that students are going to have to sit some comparable exams so we can compare students. I like the fact that there is some competitiveness in the system.' Parent Ho Li Ling, a 44-year-old finance professional, agreed that credit counting under NCEA has been confusing. She has heard from her daughters of classmates choosing easier subjects to earn credits, and even of students who had attained enough credits by Year 12 that they spent their final year 'hanging around' without needing to complete further assessments or exams. 'NCEA feels like a fake comfort zone, misleading students to think life is about choosing an easy path,' she said. Universities New Zealand, the peak body for the country's eight universities, and the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) are among stakeholders that have voiced support for the changes in high school education . EMA advocacy and stakeholder engagement lead Joanna Hall described the switch to internationally benchmarked qualifications as 'promising'. She added that 'we have consistent feedback from our members that school-leavers are not work-ready, citing low levels of communication, digital literacy and fundamental reading and maths skills'. Universities NZ chief executive Chris Whelan said the changes appeared to address concerns about NCEA's lack of focus in developing deep knowledge and critical thinking needed to prepare students for university. But he hopes to see more details of the new programme. 'We don't yet know what those subjects will be, or how they will relate to letting students know they are ready for entry into university studies.' Not everyone agrees that the changes are the best way forward. Calling the overhaul 'a return to the factory model and a big step backwards', the principal of state-funded Wellington High School, Mr Dominic Killalea, warned that 'it risks alienating so many learners who thrive in the current system'. In his message to parents, which he shared with ST, Mr Killalea defended internal assessments, saying they allow students to demonstrate their depth of knowledge beyond a three-hour pen-and-paper exam. He noted that the strength of NCEA lies in its flexibility to combine standards and create courses that are more appealing to students than some traditional subjects, or that prepare them for pathways beyond school. 'Narrowing curriculum implies a hierarchy of knowledge and risks marginalising areas such as the arts,' he said. Jordan Turner, 17, who is in Year 12 in 2025 , disagreed with the views that NCEA is broken or confusing. 'I understand why people say NCEA is too easy compared with A levels or IB, as it sounds like the workload and expectations aren't the same. However, I'm not complaining because it makes balancing school, extracurriculars and life in general more manageable,' he said. Parent and homemaker Bai Ling, 50, who has two school-going daughters, is sceptical that the reforms will deliver their goals. 'Are the teachers prepared enough to step up to the task? Without a concrete curriculum to show, how can teachers deliver effectively?' she asked. Mr Chris Abercrombie, president of the Post Primary Teachers' Association – which represents more than 25,000 secondary teachers – said the proposed changes have been talked about in recent years but have not been implemented or resourced adequately. 'The lack of adequate support for (NCEA), and political flip-flopping… mean teachers are left trying to fill the gaps. We need stability and certainty,' he said in a media statement. While the parents Mr Yule spoke to are supportive of the changes to reverse the decline in educational standards , he said they are concerned about the impact on their children, particularly in the interim period. This may push them to choose IB because of the uncertainty. 'There is no guarantee that this government will even be in power when those changes come. We could have a change of government, and we could have more uncertainty over the next few years,' Mr Yule added.
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
Trump touts his diplomatic record, but the results are mixed
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy gestures as U.S. President Donald Trump reacts during a meeting at the Oval Office of the White House, amid negotiations to end the Russian war in Ukraine, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 18, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump has frequently invoked his success at resolving international conflicts, casting himself as a global peacemaker while his aides and some foreign leaders push for him to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. He has found Russia's war in Ukraine to be far more vexing. Trump has put himself squarely in the middle of the diplomatic attempts to bring peace but has wavered on what he's willing to do to achieve it. Here are some of the foreign disputes Trump has intervened in since beginning his second term in January, using a mix of threats, inducements and the power of his office to shape the behaviors of allies and foes. ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN Trump brought together the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on August 8 to sign a joint declaration pledging to seek peaceful relations between nations that have been at odds since the late 1980s. "I got to know them through trade," Trump said later in a radio interview. "I was dealing with them a little bit and I said, 'Why you guys fighting?' Then I said, 'I'm not going to do a trade deal if you guys are going to fight. It's crazy.'" The two countries had committed to a ceasefire in 2023. In March they said they had agreed on the text of a draft peace agreement, but that deal has not been signed. The White House-brokered declaration falls short of a formal peace treaty that would place legally binding obligations on both sides. One snag is over whether an agreement requires Armenia to revise its constitution. The leaders also struck economic agreements with Washington that granted the U.S. development rights to a strategic transit corridor through southern Armenia. The Trump administration said this would allow for greater exports of energy. In documents released at the time, the corridor was named after Trump. CAMBODIA AND THAILAND Trump helped bring Thailand to the table for talks after long-simmering tensions with Cambodia spilled over in July into a five-day military conflict, the deadliest fighting there in over a decade. The U.S. president reached out to acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai two days after fighting erupted along a 200-km-long (125 mile) stretch of the border. Trump withheld deals on tariffs with both countries until the conflict ended. Up to that point, Bangkok had rejected third-party mediation and had not responded to offers of help from Malaysia and China, Reuters reporting showed. Trump's intervention helped get Thailand to the table, according to Lim Menghour, a Cambodian government official working on foreign policy. Subsequent talks yielded a fragile agreement to end hostilities, resume direct communications and create a mechanism to implement the ceasefire. Trump went on to impose a 19% tariff on both countries' U.S.-bound exports, lower than he had initially floated. ISRAEL, IRAN AND THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES Trump has maintained strong U.S. backing for Israel as it pummels Gaza and tries to uproot Hamas. He has also supported its efforts to disable other Iran-backed groups, including Hezbollah and the Houthi movement, and Tehran itself. The U.S. president is working to expand the Abraham Accords, an initiative from his first term that aims to normalize diplomatic ties between Israel and Arab nations. But a solution to Israeli-Palestinian and Iranian conflicts has eluded Trump, just as it has all U.S. presidents for decades. Washington provides weapons and diplomatic cover to Israel as its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed international condemnation of the humanitarian toll of his military campaign in Gaza. Israel and Hamas agreed to a deal to halt fighting in Gaza in January, after Trump's election but before his inauguration. The deal had been mediated by Egypt and Qatar and also involved personnel from the outgoing Biden and incoming Trump administrations. Israel abandoned the ceasefire in March. Talks toward a new ceasefire collapsed in July. Mediators are trying to revive a U.S.-backed ceasefire plan but Israel is also planning a new, expanded military operation in Gaza. Trump has blamed Hamas for not seeking a reasonable settlement of the conflict and pressured them to do so. Trump initially pursued talks with Tehran over its nuclear program. Israel launched an aerial war on Iran on June 13 and pressed Trump join in. He did on June 22, bombing Iranian nuclear sites. He then pressed Israel and Iran to join a ceasefire that Qatar mediated. The situation remains bitter and unstable. Iran continues to reject U.S. demands that it stop enriching uranium for its nuclear program. And Israel has said it will strike Iran again if it feels threatened. RWANDA AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo signed a U.S.-brokered peace agreement on June 27 under pressure from Trump, raising hopes for the end of fighting that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more this year. The fighting is the latest episode in a decades-old conflict with roots in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Rwanda sent thousands of soldiers over the border, according to analysts, to support M23 rebels who seized eastern Congo's two largest cities and lucrative mining areas earlier this year. Rwanda denies helping M23. In February, a Congolese senator contacted U.S. officials to pitch a minerals-for-security deal. Then, in March, Qatar brokered a surprise sit-down between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda's Paul Kagame during which the two leaders called for a ceasefire. Qatar has also brokered talks between Congo and M23, but the two sides are yet to agree on a peace deal and violence continues. At the White House, Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told Trump that past deals had not been implemented and urged Trump to stay engaged. Trump warned of "very severe penalties, financial and otherwise" if the agreement is violated. INDIA AND PAKISTAN U.S. officials worried conflict could spiral out of control when nuclear-armed India and Pakistan clashed in May following an attack in India that Delhi blamed on Islamabad. Consulting with Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance pushed Indian and Pakistani officials to de-escalate the situation. A ceasefire was announced on May 10 after four days of fighting. But it addresses few of the issues that have divided India and Pakistan, which have fought three major wars since their independence from the United Kingdom in 1947. Days after the ceasefire, Trump said he used the threat of cutting trade with the countries to secure the deal. India disputed that U.S. pressure led to the ceasefire and that trade was a factor. EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA Egypt and Ethiopia have a long dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Cairo regards as a national security issue and worries will threaten its Nile River water supplies. "We're working on that one problem, but it's going to get solved," Trump said in July. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt later included Egypt and Ethiopia in a list of conflicts that "the president has now ended." It's unclear what Trump is doing on the issue. In public statements, he has largely echoed Cairo's concerns, and some of his statements have been disputed by Ethiopia. Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has vowed to open the dam in September over the objections of both Sudan and Egypt. Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who welcomed Trump's comments on the issue, has vowed to protect his own country's interests. SERBIA AND KOSOVO Kosovo and Serbia still have tense relations nearly five years after agreements Trump brokered with both during his first term in office to work on their economic ties. Without providing evidence, Trump said in June he "stopped" war between the countries during his first term and that "I will fix it, again," in his second. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, almost a decade after NATO bombed Serb forces to halt the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanians from the region during a 1998-1999 counter-insurgency war. But Serbia still regards Kosovo as an integral part of its territory. The countries have signed no peace deal. Kosovo's prime minister Albin Kurti has sought to extend government control over the north, where about 50,000 ethnic Serbs live, many of whom refuse to recognize Kosovo's independence. Kosovo's President Vjosa Osmani said in July that "the last few weeks" Trump had prevented further escalation in the region. She did not elaborate, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic denied that any escalation had been forthcoming. RUSSIA AND UKRAINE Trump, who said during the 2024 presidential campaign that he could solve the war in Ukraine in one day, has so far been unable to end the 3-1/2-year-old conflict that analysts say has left more than 1 million people dead or wounded. "I thought this was going to be one of the easier ones," Trump said on August 18. "It's actually one of the most difficult." Trump's views on how to best bring peace have swung from calling for a ceasefire to saying a deal could still be worked out while the fighting continued. He has threatened tariffs and sanctions against Putin, but then backed off them again after an Alaska summit where the two leaders appeared before backdrops that said "Pursuing Peace." Trump, who has sometimes criticized and sometimes supported Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, this week said the United States would help guarantee Ukraine's security in any deal. He subsequently said he had ruled out putting U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine, but the U.S. might provide air support to help end the hostilities. Europeans have worried that Trump might push Zelenskiy to accept a proposal from Putin that included significant territorial concessions by Kyiv and limited security guarantees from Washington. Despite talk of a possible meeting between Putin and Zelenskiy, there was no let-up in the fighting. Russia this week launched 270 drones and 10 missiles in an overnight attack on Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force said, the largest this month. SOUTH KOREA AND NORTH KOREA Trump in June vowed to "get the conflict solved with North Korea." The U.S. president and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held three summits during Trump's 2017-2021 first term and exchanged a number of letters that Trump called "beautiful," before the unprecedented diplomatic effort broke down over U.S. demands that Kim give up his nuclear weapons. North Korea has surged ahead with more and bigger ballistic missiles, expanded its nuclear weapons facilities, and gained new support from its neighbors in the years since. In his second term Trump has acknowledged that North Korea is a "nuclear power." The White House said in June that Trump would welcome communications again with Kim. It has not responded to reports that Trump's initial efforts at communication with the North Korean leader have been ignored. REUTERS
