Air Canada flight attendants could face steep fines and the threat of imprisonment for defying a federal back-to-work order, but pressure is also building on Air Canada to reach a deal, labour experts say.
Canada’s national airline has suspended its plan to resume operations on Sunday night after the Canadian Union of Public Employees announced it would remain on strike and challenge an order from the Canada Industrial Relations Board requiring its members to return to work by 2 p.m.
The CIRB ordered the two parties into binding arbitration against the union’s will after Air Canada said it reached an impasse in negotiations following the expiration of its 10-year contract in March.
“This is a generational round of bargaining,” said Steven Tufts, an associate professor of labour at York University. “I think it speaks to the flight attendants knowing that if they don’t fix these issues and get these gains now, they’re not going to get them.”
Historical precedents show that serious consequences could follow the union’s defiance of a back-to-work order, Tufts added, but that does not mean the union has no shot in winning.
On Nov. 3, 2022, Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government passed legislation making it illegal for 55,000 education workers to strike, setting fines of up to $4,000 per employee per day for violations and imposing a contract on them.
CUPE, at the time, dismissed the order and went on strike anyway, saying it would pay the fines if necessary. Within four days, the Ford government repealed the bill and returned to the bargaining table. The two parties reached an agreement in late November.
The strike by Ontario hospital workers was called off in 1981 after CUPE’s then-president, Grace Hartman, and two other union officials were jailed for 45 days for defying an Ontario Supreme Court back-to-work order.
“I can’t predict it on a crystal ball, but you could see a heavy-handed state come in and start levying fines … or perhaps trying to imprison union leaders again,” Tufts said.
Or Air Canada could step down and return to the table, which is a scenario “in the best interest of everyone involved,” he added.
“The Liberals have created what I call an intervention expectation that makes it logical for parties to just presume that arbitration will be ordered if there’s any disruption to the public,” said David Doorey, professor of labour relations at York University, adding that Air Canada likely feels an arbitrator will give it what it wants.
With the flight attendants standing firm against the back-to-work order and arbitration, Doorey said he suspects that the parties and the government “are engaged in either direct or backroom discussions to try and find a resolution.”
“I would be surprised if the strike drags on very long. The stakes are too high for the parties, the government, and the public,” he said.
Doorey said the federal government “could go a long way” by amending the Canada Labour Code to require airlines to pay workers for the actual hours they work, taking the big obstacle off the bargaining table — a move both the Conservatives and the NDP have called for.
Flight cancellations began gradually on Thursday and escalated to a full shutdown of Air Canada service by Saturday, affecting 130,000 customers daily.
However, some travellers say that even though it has caused them inconvenience, they support the flight attendants’ right to strike.
Diane Kilby, 78, and her partner, Jan Baker, 77, from Kitchener, said their “trip of a lifetime” to Iceland last Wednesday has turned into a tense fiasco since they learned about the potential strike.
The couple repeatedly tried to contact the airline by phone but couldn’t reach anyone, only to discover that their flight had been cancelled on Friday night. They could not find an alternative economy class ticket and had to purchase two business class tickets with Virgin Atlantic, costing a total of $7,800 (USD).
“I know that we are in a miserable situation,” said Kibly. “But these flight attendants are workers, and they’re being messed around by a pretty powerful employer.”
“It strikes me as unethical and union-bashing for Air Canada to be blaming the flight attendants,” she said.
Danielle Davis, 33, from Quebec, said she supports the union’s strike even though it meant her flight to London for a family friend’s memorial on Saturday night was cancelled. She had booked a backup flight with Air Transat on Friday.
“I know it’s an inconvenience to me, but at the end of the day, they should be paid” for the work they do, she said.
In Sunday’s announcement, Air Canada said it will resume flights as of the next evening, but Tufts said the airline is just “buying time” to manage the crisis.
“The passengers are going to have to hope for the best and prepare for the worst,” Tufts said. ”(Air Canada) doesn’t know when the workers are going to come back to work. They’re not being honest.”
