CanadaAir Canada says it has suspended plans to resume limited operations after the union representing the airline’s flight attendants said Sunday it will defy a federal back-to-work order for binding arbitration to end the work stoppage.Union says its flight attendants will remain on strike, defy federal back-to-work orderCBC News · Posted: Aug 17, 2025 9:16 AM EDT | Last Updated: 16 minutes agoAir Canada flight attendants to remain on strike, defy back-to-work order: unionAir Canada flight attendants will defy the back-to-work order and remain on strike after the federal government ordered binding arbitration to end the work stoppage, the Canadian Union of Public Employees told Radio-Canada on Sunday. The union has also accused federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu of caving to Air Canada’s demands by ordering binding arbitration on Saturday. Air Canada says it has suspended plans to resume limited operations after the union representing the airline’s flight attendants said Sunday it will defy a federal back-to-work order for binding arbitration to end the work stoppage.”Approximately 240 flights scheduled to operate beginning this afternoon have now been cancelled,” the airline said in a statement.Air Canada said it will instead resume flights as of Monday evening, but with more than 10,000 flight attendants remaining on strike, it is unclear how Air Canada plans to operate these flights.CBC News has reached out to the airline for clarification.Employees and union members protest outside Air Canada headquarters in Montreal Sunday after the federal government intervened in the labour dispute between the airline and the union representing its flight attendants. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)Earlier Sunday, the Montreal-based airline announced it planned to resume flights starting this evening, a day after the federal government issued a directive to end a cabin-crew strike that caused the suspension of around 700 daily flights, stranding more than 100,000 passengers. But just hours later, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said in a statement that members would remain on strike and invited Air Canada back to the table to “negotiate a fair deal.””We will be challenging this blatantly unconstitutional order that violates the Charter rights of 10,000 flight attendants, 70 per cent of whom are women, and 100 per cent of whom are forced to do hours of unpaid work by their employer every time they come to work,” it said in a statement. Today, Cross Country Checkup is asking: Should the government have forced Air Canada flight attendants back to work? How have you been affected by the strike? Leave your comment here and we may read it or call you back for our show later this afternoon! “I don’t think anyone’s in the mood to go back to work,” Lillian Speedie, vice-president of CUPE Local 4092, told CBC’s News Network at a picket line outside Toronto Pearson International Airport on Sunday.”To legislate us back to work 12 hours after we started? I’m sorry, snowstorms have shut down Air Canada for longer than we were allowed to strike.”Striking Air Canada flight attendants rally outside of Montreal’s Trudeau airport on Sunday. (Kwabena Oduro/CBC)All Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge operations are affected, though flights by Air Canada Express, operated by third-party airlines Jazz and PAL, are not.The airline says customers whose flights are cancelled will be notified and are “strongly advised” not to go to the airport unless they have confirmed flights on other airlines.Air Canada will offer those with cancelled flights other options, including a refund or credit for future travel. The carrier also said it will offer to rebook customers on other carriers, “although capacity is currently limited due to the peak summer travel season.”WATCH | Federal government steps in to resolve Air Canada labour dispute: Binding arbitration ordered to resolve Air Canada labour dispute: Minister HajduThe federal government is stepping in to resolve a labour dispute between Air Canada and the union representing flight attendants, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu revealed on Saturday. Hajdu told journalists she is ordering binding arbitration and operations to resume.Air Canada had said earlier in the day it had been directed by the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to resume operations and have flight attendants return to their duties by 2 p.m. ET.It said the CIRB had ordered the terms of the collective agreement between the union and the airline that expired on March 31 be extended until a new agreement is reached.Air Canada relies on government help: labour expertSteven Tufts, an associate professor and labour geographer at York University, says Air Canada has become dependent on the federal government to solve its labour-relations issues.He mentioned last year’s dispute between the airline and the pilots’ union; Air Canada asked for the government to be ready to step in before the two sides reached a tentative agreement in September 2024.”[Air Canada] tried to get the government to intervene with pilots last year,” Tufts told CBC News Network.”Air Canada has to learn not to call mommy and daddy every time they reach an impasse at the bargaining table. They have to actually sit down and get a deal done with their workers.”Striking Air Canada flight attendants take part in a picket line outside of Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Sunday. (Linda Ward/CBC)Earlier this week, Air Canada asked Hajdu to order the parties to enter a binding arbitration process. But intervention was something she resisted until Saturday afternoon, when she said it became clear the two sides were at an impasse. CUPE maintained it opposed arbitration, instead preferring to solve the dispute through bargaining. It said Hajdu’s decision “sets a terrible precedent.””The Liberal government is rewarding Air Canada’s refusal to negotiate fairly by giving them exactly what they wanted,” the union wrote in a statement Saturday afternoon.An Air Canada bag drop area sits empty Saturday at Montreal–Trudeau International Airport in Montreal after Air Canada flight attendants walked off the job. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)The two sides are set to return to the table this week.The union accused Air Canada of refusing to bargain in good faith due to the likelihood of the government stepping in and imposing arbitration.It has said its main sticking points revolve around wages that have been outpaced by inflation during its previous 10-year contract, along with unpaid labour when planes aren’t in the air.CUPE also launched a national day of action for Sunday, with demonstrations outside of the Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary airports.With files from The Canadian Press
Air Canada suspends plans to resume operations as flight attendants defy back-to-work order
