Toronto (Canada) (AFP) – Canada’s labor tribunal on Monday declared a strike by Air Canada’s flight attendants illegal, a decision that could end a work stoppage which has cancelled travel for half a million people worldwide. Roughly 10,000 flight attendants walked off the job after midnight on Saturday, insisting the airline had failed to address their demands for higher wages and compensation for unpaid ground work, including during boarding.
Canada’s national carrier, which flies directly to 180 cities domestically and abroad, said the strike had forced cancellations impacting 500,000 people. Over the weekend, federal labor minister Patty Hajdu invoked a legal provision to halt the strike and force both sides into binding arbitration. Following Hajdu’s intervention, the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), a regulatory tribunal, ordered the flight attendants back to work on Sunday.
The flight attendants’ union said it would defy the order, forcing Air Canada to walk back plans to partially restore service late Sunday. CIRB regulators upped the pressure on Monday, ordering the union “to resume the performance of their duties immediately and to refrain from engaging in unlawful strike activities,” Air Canada said in a statement. The tribunal gave the Canadian Union of Public Employees until 12:00 pm (1600 GMT) to communicate to members that they “are required to resume the performance of their duties,” Air Canada further said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters in Ottawa Monday it was “disappointing” that eight months of negotiations between the carrier and union did not produce an agreement. “We recognize very much the critical role that flight attendants play in keeping Canadians and their families safe as they travel,” he said. “It is important that they’re compensated equitably.” But, he added, Canada faced a situation where hundreds of thousands of citizens and visitors were facing travel uncertainty.
CUPE had over the weekend earlier slammed the Canadian government’s intervention as “rewarding Air Canada’s refusal to negotiate fairly by giving them exactly what they wanted.” “This sets a terrible precedent,” it said. Labor minister Hajdu said over the weekend that she had hoped a deal could have been reached through bargaining, but “it has now become clear that this dispute won’t be resolved at the table.” “Canadians are increasingly finding themselves in very difficult situations and the strike is rapidly impacting the Canadian economy,” she added.
On Thursday, Air Canada detailed the terms offered to cabin crew, indicating a senior flight attendant would on average make CAN$87,000 ($65,000) by 2027. CUPE has described Air Canada’s offers as “below inflation (and) below market value.” In a statement issued before the strike began, the Business Council of Canada warned an Air Canada work stoppage would exacerbate the economic pinch already being felt from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
© 2024 AFP
