Less than 12 hours after it began, the federal government ordered Air Canada and its flight attendants into binding arbitration on Saturday, putting an abrupt end to the strike and lockout situation that left airplanes grounded and thousands of Canadians struggling to find alternate ways home.
The union representing more than 10,000 flight attendants with Air Canada announced its members were walking off the job after it was unable to reach an eleventh-hour deal with the airline. The strike officially began just before 1 a.m. ET on Saturday and in turn, Air Canada locked out its agents about 30 minutes later due to the strike action.
Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu announced just after noon that she had reluctantly intervened, ordering binding arbitration and for operations at the airline to resume, citing the impact on Canadians and the economy.
“Air Canada has said it could take between five to 10 days for regular services to resume, and I think that’s a question for Air Canada in terms of their complex operations, what needs to happen for full resumption of services,” Hajdu told a news conference in Ottawa.
Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights were cancelled amid the work stoppage, with an estimated 130,000 customers impacted each day that the strike continued, the company said.
Flights by Air Canada Express, operated by third-party airlines Jazz and PAL, were not affected.
Picket lines were active at airports across Canada, including Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees said.
Upon hearing news of the federal intervention, the members on the line began to chant “Patty Hadju shame on you” in Toronto.
Air Canada had previously asked Hajdu to order the parties to enter a binding arbitration process — a power granted to the minister through Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code. Intervention was something she resisted until Saturday, when it became clear the two sides were at an impasse.
The minister said the union has indicated many of its demands have been met, but they will need an arbitrator to deal with the final outstanding issues.
Hajdu had asked the union to respond to the company’s request. CUPE indicated Friday it opposed arbitration, instead maintaining its desire to solve the impasse through bargaining, something they repeated Saturday.
However, the union had implied throughout the week that the writing could be on the wall when it came to government intervention.
CUPE accused Air Canada of refusing to bargain in good faith “due to the likelihood of the federal government using Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to interfere in negotiations and have a contract imposed by an outside third-party arbitrator.”
“The best deal is going to be negotiated at the table … I understand, the bargaining committee, and our members understand the working conditions we’re currently under,” Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada component of CUPE, said Saturday.
“Bargain it. Deal with it. Fight those differences out at the table, not in front of the workers, and bring them back something that they’ll be proud of and the company can live with.”
The union 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.
“What we’re asking for is not unreasonable. It is not a high demand. It is not that far off other comparators such as Air Transat, it is realistic and it is deserved. We are the national carrier and we have people operating in poverty,” Lesosky said.
“So the company needs to be willing to address those things, you can’t go the status quo and say eight per cent is enough, 10 per cent is enough — it’s not.”
On Friday, the union released polling by Abacus Data indicating that 59 per cent of Canadians believe the federal government should respect flight attendants’ right to take job action, even if it causes travel disruptions.
The weighted survey of 1,500 respondents, conducted Thursday and Friday, said 88 per cent of Canadians believe flight attendants should be paid for all work-related duties including boarding, delays and safety checks.
Four-in-five respondents said they support raising flight attendant pay to meet the rising cost-of-living.
Air Canada has said its latest proposal included a 38 per cent increase in total compensation over four years, including a new provision for ground pay “that is industry-leading in Canada.”
The proposal would provide “significant improvements” to health benefits and pension plans, an increase to paid vacation and measures to address union concerns about rest and work-life balance, the airline said.
“It will make Air Canada flight attendants the best compensated in Canada,” the company said, adding its cabin crew already earn up to $17 more per hour than their counterparts at Air Canada’s largest domestic competitor.
Air Canada cancelled more than 600 flights over the past two days in preparation for a potential work stoppage, affecting 100,000 passengers.
It said it will notify customers with imminent travel of additional cancelled flights and their options.
The airline has said passengers whose flights are cancelled will be offered a full refund or the opportunity to change their travel plans without a fee.
It added it strongly advises affected customers not to go to the airport unless they have a confirmed ticket on an airline other than Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge.
