Ottawa orders binding arbitration in Air Canada-union dispute to end flight attendants' strike

Yahoo

6 hours ago

The federal government is intervening in the labour dispute between Air Canada and the union representing its flight attendants, just hours after they went on strike.
Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said early Saturday afternoon that she has invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to order binding arbitration between the airline and its union and has ordered operations to resume — although it's not immediately clear when the 10,000 flight attendants will return to work.
"As minister of labour, I have exercised my authorities under [the labour code] to direct the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order the parties to resume and continue their operations and duties," she told a news conference.
"These parties have had months at the negotiation table. They've had support through the federal mediation service and they have been unable to cross the finish line," Hajdu said. "Arbitration is the most stable way to conclude this process for Canadians, while allowing parties to reach a deal."
Ottawa's involvement came after the union representing Air Canada's flight attendants said no talks were scheduled with the airline as of Saturday morning.
In a statement posted to social media platform X, the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said Hajdu is "crushing flight attendants' Charter rights" by forcing arbitration.
Wesley Lesosky, president of CUPE's Air Canada component, said this action leaves the union at the bargaining table with an "obstinate employer" and that Hajdu has given Air Canada exactly what it wants — "hours and hours of unpaid labour from underpaid flight attendants."
CBC News has reached out to Air Canada for comment and will update this story with any response.
Binding arbitration
Air Canada previously asked Hajdu to intervene by ordering the parties to enter a binding arbitration process through Section 107.
On Friday, Hajdu urged Air Canada and the union to get back to the negotiating table, suggesting she was not ready to intervene. The minister said CUPE had indicated many of its demands have been met, suggesting there was a path forward to a deal.
The union and airline met late Friday night before the flight attendants walked off the job at 12:58 a.m. ET, Lesosky told a morning news conference.
He said their last meeting was Friday night, but Air Canada offered "nothing of substance" to bring back to members.
Asked when Canadians could expect to be back on flights, Lesosky said it's up to Air Canada but that public pressure on the airline will make a "huge difference" in reaching a settlement.
Passengers left stranded
All Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights are suspended for now. About 130,000 customers will be affected each day the strike continues, said the airline.
Flights by Air Canada Express, which are operated by third-party airlines Jazz and PAL, are not affected.
"Air Canada deeply regrets the effect the strike is having on customers," it said in a brief statement early Saturday morning.
CUPE has set up picket lines at airports across Canada, including in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. Striking flight attendants also plan to picket at airports in Halifax, Ottawa and Winnipeg.
In the meantime, passengers around the world are feeling the effects of the flight attendants' strike.
Keelin Pringnitz and her family are from Ottawa and were returning from a European vacation but were left stranded after flights were cancelled.
"It was an end of my maternity leave kind of trip. We went to the Faroe Islands and Norway, travelling through Air Canada to London," Pringnitz said from London's Heathrow Airport.
She noted there was an option for travellers to go the U.S., but she and others were told there wouldn't be any further assistance once they landed.
"It didn't go over well with the line. Nobody really seemed interested, everybody seemed a little bit amused almost at the suggestion, or exasperated, because it is a bit ridiculous to offer to take stranded passengers to a different country to strand them there."
For customers due to travel soon whose flights are not yet cancelled, Air Canada said it will allow them to rebook their travel or obtain a credit for future travel.
WATCH | The impact of the flight attendants' strike on travellers:
Sides at an impasse on pay
Air Canada and CUPE have been in contract talks for about eight months but have yet to reach a tentative deal.
Both sides say they remain far apart on the issue of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes aren't in the air.
The airline's latest offer included a 38 per cent 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 eight per cent raise in the first year didn't go far enough because of inflation.
WATCH | Thousands of Air Canada flight attendants walk off the job:
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