By Rob Gillies and Wyatte Grantham-Philips | Related Press
TORONTO — Canada’s authorities pressured Air Canada and its putting flight attendants again to work and into arbitration Saturday after a piece stoppage stranded greater than 100,000 vacationers all over the world through the peak summer season journey season.
Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu mentioned now just isn’t the time to take dangers with the economic system, noting the unprecedented tariffs the U.S. has imposed on Canada. The intervention means the ten,000 flight attendants will return to work quickly.
The federal government’s motion got here lower than 12 hours after staff walked off the job.
“The talks broke down. It is clear that the parties are not any closer to resolving some of the key issues that remain and they will need help with the arbitrator,” Hajdu mentioned.
Hajdu mentioned the complete resumption of companies might take days, noting it’s as much as the Canada Industrial Relations Board. In the meantime, Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada Part of the CUPE union, accused the federal government of violating the flight attendants’ constitutional proper to strike — and decried Hajdu for less than ready hours to intervene.
“The Liberal government is rewarding Air Canada’s refusal to negotiate fairly by giving them exactly what they wanted,” Lesosky mentioned.
Air Canada didn’t instantly have further feedback when reached Saturday afternoon. However Air Canada Chief Working Officer Mark Nasr beforehand mentioned it might take as much as per week to totally restart operations. Vacationers will possible proceed to see disruptions within the coming days.
Current settlement will keep in place by means of arbitration
The shutdown of Canada’s largest airline early Saturday is impacting about 130,000 folks a day, and a few 25,000 Canadians could also be stranded. Air Canada operates round 700 flights per day.
In line with numbers from aviation analytics supplier Cirium, Air Canada had canceled a complete of 671 flights by Saturday afternoon, following 199 on Friday. And one other 96 flights scheduled for Sunday have been already suspended.
Hajdu ordered the Canada Industrial Relations Board to increase the time period of the present collective settlement till a brand new one is set by the arbitrator.
“Canadians rely on air travel every day, and its importance cannot be understated,” she mentioned.
Union spokesman Hugh Pouliot didn’t instantly know what day staff would return to work. “We’re on the picket lines until further notice,” he mentioned.
The bitter contract battle escalated Friday because the union turned down Air Canada’s prior request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which permits a third-party mediator to determine the phrases of a brand new contract.
‘Such little progress has been made’
Flight attendants walked off the job round 1 a.m. EDT on Saturday. Across the similar time, Air Canada mentioned it could start locking flight attendants out of airports.
Ian Lee, an affiliate professor at Carleton College’s Sprott Faculty of Enterprise, earlier famous the federal government repeatedly intervenes in transportation strikes.
“They will intervene to bring the strike to an end. Why? Because it has happened 45 times from 1950 until now,” Lee mentioned. “It is all because of the incredible dependency of Canadians.”
Final yr, the federal government pressured the nation’s two main railroads into arbitration with their labor union throughout a piece stoppage. The union for the rail staff is suing, arguing the federal government is eradicating a union’s leverage in negotiations.
The Enterprise Council of Canada had urged the federal government to impose binding arbitration on this case, too. And the Canadian Chamber of Commerce welcomed the intervention.
“With valuable cargo grounded and passengers stranded, the government made the right decision to refer the two sides to binding arbitration,” mentioned Matthew Holmes, the manager vp for the Chamber of Commerce — including that “close to a million Canadians and international visitors could be impacted” if it takes Air Canada per week to be totally operational once more.
Hajdu maintained that her Liberal authorities just isn’t anti-union, saying it’s clear the 2 sides are at an deadlock.
Vacationers in limbo
Passengers whose flights are impacted will probably be eligible to request a full refund on the airline’s web site or cell app, in line with Air Canada.
The airline mentioned it could additionally supply various journey choices by means of different Canadian and international airways when attainable. Nonetheless, it warned that it couldn’t assure rapid rebooking as a result of flights on different airways are already full “due to the summer travel peak.”
Many vacationers expressed frustration over Air Canada’s response to the strike.
Jean‐Nicolas Reyt, 42, mentioned he had heard little from Air Canada simply hours earlier than his upcoming flight from France, scheduled for Sunday.
Reyt assumes his upcoming flight may very well be canceled — very like the scores of different prolonged disruptions this weekend. “I’m just very surprised that Air Canada let it go this far,” he mentioned. “It’s really a bit disheartening that they fly you somewhere abroad and then they just don’t fly you back.”
Jennifer MacDonald, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, expressed comparable frustration. She has been attempting to assist her brother and cousin get dwelling to Edmonton, Alberta, for the reason that second leg of their Air Canada journey was canceled throughout what was speculated to be a 1-hour layover in Montreal on Friday night time.
The 2 needed to pay $300 out of their very own pocket for a lodge, MacDonald mentioned. All Saturday morning, they tried to search for rebooking choices, however every part was bought out, she added. Ultimately, they opted to guide a brand new flight for Aug. 22 out of Halifax, with one other member of the family volunteering to make an eight-hour drive to select them up in Montreal and convey them again east on Saturday.
“It will be a multiday ordeal and a multi-thousand-dollar trip,” MacDonald mentioned. However as nerve-racking because the disruptions have been, she added that her household stands in solidarity with the flight attendants. “We hope that Air Canada lifts the lockout and negotiates fairly.”
Sides are far aside on pay
Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Workers have been in contract talks for about eight months, however they’ve but to succeed in a tentative deal.
Each side say they continue to be far aside on the problem of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes aren’t within the air.
“We are heartbroken for our passengers. Nobody wants to see Canadians stranded or anxious about their travel plans, but we cannot work for free,” Natasha Stea, an Air Canada flight attendant and native union president, mentioned earlier than the federal government intervention was introduced.
The attendants are about 70% ladies. Stea mentioned Air Canada pilots, who’re male-dominated, obtained a major elevate final yr and questioned whether or not they’re getting truthful remedy.
The airline’s newest supply included a 38% enhance in whole compensation, together with advantages and pensions over 4 years, that it mentioned “would have made our flight attendants the best compensated in Canada.”
However the union pushed again, saying the proposed 8% elevate within the first yr didn’t go far sufficient due to inflation.
Grantham-Philips reported from New York. Airways reporter Rio Yamat contributed to this report from Las Vegas.
Initially Printed: August 16, 2025 at 4:58 PM PDT
