Air Canada Operations Halted After Major Union Continues Strike

Air Canada has further delayed resuming operations until this evening, with the call coming after the continuation of a massive strike.

The airline was forced to halt almost all Air Canada flights through the weekend after the strike began on Saturday morning, with over 10,000 flight attendants leaving their posts to protest for higher wages and better treatment within the workplace. The strike was conducted by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which has over 750,000 members in various sectors of the Canadian economy.

Following the strike, the Canadian government was forced to intervene, with Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu placing binding arbitration on the case. Binding arbitration is where a third party, known as the arbitrator, is forced to intervene in a case where two sides are at an impasse. Once binding arbitration is imposed, it is confirmed that the final say of the arbitrator will be legally binding.

The Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) then acted as the third party, informing Air Canada flight attendants that they were to return to work by 2 pm on Sunday afternoon. However, the union instructed its attendants to stay on strike, going against the legally binding decision made by the Industrial Relations Board.

The CUPE has stated that they will not stop until their flight attendants receive what they view as fair compensation, which requires a significant change from current pay rates. Flight attendants are technically only paid for their time in the air, making the other hours that they spend on the ground unpaid. The union is seeking to change that, with flight attendants receiving compensation for their time in the air and on the ground.

However, this would be a massive cost to Air Canada as the employer, and the two groups will likely need to go through several rounds of contract negotiations before a deal can be reached.

For now, the leadership of the CUPE is likely to face legal challenges after they defied a legally binding federal order, with the union facing possible fines as well. There is only one other instance in Canadian history where a union has gone against a federal decision, occurring with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) in 1978.

After the union defied the government order, significant fines were imposed on the organization, and the leader was jailed for three months and placed on probation for an additional 18 months after being convicted for contempt of Parliament.

Meanwhile, Air Canada is scrambling to get flights back in the air as customers remain stranded across the world. The airline is urging their fliers to avoid visiting the airport before confirming that their flight is still on, and they are willing to provide customers with travel coupons, refunds, or free rebooking with other airlines for the inconvenience. So far, Air Canada has canceled a total of 730 flights for each day of the weekend – around 96% of all flights – and have already scheduled an additional 400 cancelations for today.

They plan to resume operations by Monday evening, but that could change based on the decisions the union and the company's flight attendants take from here.

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