The union that represents more than 10,000 flight attendants at Air Canada has once again defied the government as it attempts to end what has been labelled an ‘illegal strike’ that has completely shut down the beleaguered airline.
In an order issued on Monday, the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) commanded the CUPE union to publicly declare that the strike was over and instruct its members to immediately return to work.
The union had until 12:00 pm on August 18 to provide a written notice to flight attendants revoking the strike action. That deadline came and went without any official notice from CUPE, either at a local or national level.
Instead, in a statement posted to its official Facebook account shortly after midday on Monday, the local branch of the union “confirmed that they will not back down and will not ask their members to return to work.”
The strike started on Saturday, and since then, Air Canada estimates that more than half a million passengers have been stranded as a result of the walkout.
Air Canada had hoped to resume some flight operations on Sunday evening after the CIRB acted on a request from the Minister of Jobs and Families, Patty Hajdu, to order an end to the strike and force the two sides into binding arbitration to resolve the dispute.
Hajdu was using a power contained in Section 107 of the Canadian Labour Code, which allows the government to intervene in industrial disputes to protect the Canadian government.
The first order from the CIRB came in the early hours of Sunday morning and was swiftly rejected by the union.
A strike was called after the union dismissed a pay offer from Air Canada, claiming that the carrier’s proposal represents a pay rise of just 17% in real terms over the term of the contract.
In the first year of the contract, flight attendants would get an 8% rise, which falls below inflation since their last contract took effect.
After last-ditch negotiations to broker a deal ended in failure last week, Air Canada declared an impasse and called on the union to accept binding arbitration. When the union rejected this offer, the airline called on the Canadian government to force their hand.
What happens next is, quite frankly, anyone’s guess. The union says it wants Air Canada to return to the negotiating table so that they can mutually agree on a tentative agreement that is put to the vote of flight attendants.
Meanwhile, Air Canada has refused to re-enter negotiations and is calling on the union to accept binding arbitration. How the government responds next might be crucial in determining which side backs down.
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