Air
Canada¡¯s flight attendants are digging in their heels, continuing
a strike even after being ordered
back on the job by a federal labor board. The move has left Canada¡¯s
largest airline pushing back its restart plans and passengers wondering when
they¡¯ll be able to fly again.
The Canadian Union
of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents more than 10,000 flight
attendants, announced Sunday that its members would stay off the job, calling
the back-to-work order unconstitutional. The union is urging Air Canada to
return to the bargaining table to ¡°negotiate a fair deal.¡±
The strike began
Saturday, the first walkout by Air Canada flight attendants since 1985. It
followed months of failed contract talks and immediately disrupted the
airline¡¯s schedule. Roughly 700 flights were scrapped on the first day alone,
leaving more than 100,000 travelers stranded or scrambling to find alternate
routes.
On Saturday,
Prime Minister Mark Carney¡¯s Liberal government asked the Canada Industrial
Relations Board (CIRB) to step in with binding arbitration¡ªa process that
forces both sides to accept an outside decision. The CIRB complied, siding with
Air Canada¡¯s request. But the union objected strongly, not only to the
arbitration itself but also to the involvement of CIRB chair Maryse Tremblay,
who previously worked as senior counsel for the airline. CUPE called her
decision not to step aside ¡°a staggering conflict of interest.¡±
Reuters
reported that neither the Canadian government, nor the CIRB responded to its
request for comment on the situation.?
The biggest bone
of contention in the contract dispute is pay. Flight attendants argue they
deserve compensation for the time they spend on the ground assisting
passengers, not just for the hours when a plane is moving. CUPE says binding
arbitration removes the incentive for Air Canada to negotiate a fair
resolution.
At this point, the
government could try to end the strike by asking the courts to force flight
attendants back to work or by requesting a faster hearing. Another option would
be to pass new legislation, but that would require support from opposing
parties and approval from both houses of parliament, which isn¡¯t scheduled to
reconvene until September 15.
Other labor unions
showed solidarity over the weekend, joining flight attendants on picket lines
in Toronto. ¡°They are in support here today because they are seeing our rights
being eroded,¡± said Natasha Stea, a flight attendant and local union president.
Experts say it¡¯s
unusual for a union to openly defy a CIRB order. ¡°The federal government has
entrusted a board to administer these rules in the Canadian Labor Code, and if
you defy them, you are transgressing and essentially violating the law,¡±
explained Rafael Gomez, an employment relations professor at the University of
Toronto.?
Air Canada, for
its part, said Sunday that the CIRB has ordered the airline¡¯s previous
collective agreement¡ªset to expire on March 31¡ªto be extended until a new deal is
hammered out.?
The flag carrier
had originally anticipated being able to restart service on Sunday afternoon,
but when the day arrived, it announced the cancellation of roughly 240 flights
that had been scheduled to operate. It now anticipates restarting operations on
Monday evening.?
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