Government forces Air Canada and flight attendants again to work and into arbitration, after strike strands over 100,000 vacationers

Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu stated now will not be the time to take dangers with the financial system, noting the unprecedented tariffsthe U.S. has imposed on Canada. The intervention means the 10,000 flight attendants will return to work quickly.

The authorities’s motion got here lower than 12 hours after staff walked off the job.

“The talks broke down. It is clear that the parties are not any closer to resolving some of the key issues that remain and they will need help with the arbitrator,” Hajdu stated.

Hajdu stated the total resumption of companies might take days, noting it’s as much as the Canada Industrial Relations Board. Meanwhile, Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada Component of the CUPE union, accused the federal government of violating the flight attendants’ constitutional proper to strike — and decried Hajdu for under ready hours to intervene.

“The Liberal government is rewarding Air Canada’s refusal to negotiate fairly by giving them exactly what they wanted,” Lesosky stated.

Air Canada didn’t instantly have further feedback when reached Saturday afternoon. But Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Mark Nasr beforehand stated it might take as much as every week to completely restart operations. It’s possible that vacationers will proceed to see disruptions within the coming days.

Existing settlement will keep in place by means of arbitration

The shutdown of Canada’s largest airline early Saturday is impacting about 130,000 people a day, and a few 25,000 Canadians could also be stranded. Air Canada operates round 700 flights per day.

According to numbers from aviation analytics supplier Cirium, Air Canada had canceled a complete of 671 flights by Saturday afternoon — following 199 on Friday. And one other 96 flights scheduled for Sunday had been already suspended.

Hajdu ordered the Canada Industrial Relations Board to increase the time period of the present collective settlement till a brand new one is decided by the arbitrator.

“Canadians rely on air travel every day, and its importance cannot be understated,” she stated.

Union spokesman Hugh Pouliot didn’t instantly know what day staff would return to work. “We’re on the picket lines until further notice,” he stated.

The bitter contract combat escalated Friday because the union turned down Air Canada’s prior request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which permits a third-party mediator to resolve the phrases of a brand new contract.

‘Such little progress has been made’

Flight attendants walked off the job round 1 a.m. EDT on Saturday. Around the identical time, Air Canada stated it might start locking flight attendants out of airports.

Ian Lee, an affiliate professor at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, earlier famous the federal government repeatedly intervenes in transportation strikes.

“They will intervene to bring the strike to an end. Why? Because it has happened 45 times from 1950 until now,” Lee stated. “It is all because of the incredible dependency of Canadians.”

Last 12 months, the federal government forced the country’s two major railroads into arbitration with their labor union throughout a piece stoppage. The union for the rail staff is suing, arguing the federal government is eradicating a union’s leverage in negotiations.

The Business Council of Canada had urged the federal government to impose binding arbitration on this case, too. And the Canadian Chamber of Commerce welcomed the intervention.

“With valuable cargo grounded and passengers stranded, the government made the right decision to refer the two sides to binding arbitration,” stated Matthew Holmes, the manager vice chairman for the Chamber of Commerce — including that “close to a million Canadians and international visitors could be impacted” if it takes Air Canada every week to be totally operational once more.

Hajdu maintained that her Liberal authorities will not be anti-union, saying it’s clear the 2 sides are at an deadlock.

Travelers in limbo

Passengers whose flights are impacted will likely be eligible to request a full refund on the airline’s web site or cell app, in keeping with Air Canada.

The airline stated it might additionally provide different journey choices by means of different Canadian and international airways when attainable. Still, it warned that it couldn’t assure rapid rebooking as a result of flights on different airways are already full “due to the summer travel peak.”

Many vacationers expressed frustration over Air Canada’s response to the strike.

Jean‐Nicolas Reyt, 42, stated he had heard little from Air Canada simply hours earlier than his upcoming flight from France scheduled for Sunday.

“What’s stressful is to not hear anything from Air Canada,” stated Reyt, who’s attempting to return to Montreal, the place he’s an affiliate professor of organizational conduct at McGill University. He stated he solely acquired one e-mail from the airline on Thursday warning of potential strike disruptions, however had no additional info as of Saturday night in Cannes, the place he was visiting household.

Reyt assumes his upcoming flight might be canceled — very like the scores of different prolonged disruptions this weekend. “I’m just very surprised that Air Canada let it go this far,” he stated. “It’s really a bit disheartening that they fly you somewhere abroad and then they just don’t fly you back.”

Jennifer MacDonald, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, expressed comparable frustration. She has been attempting to assist her brother and cousin get residence to Edmonton, Alberta for the reason that second leg of their Air Canada journey was canceled throughout what was imagined to be a 1-hour layover in Montreal on Friday evening.

The two needed to pay $300 out of their very own pocket for a lodge, MacDonald stated. All Saturday morning, they tried to search for rebooking choices, however all the pieces was offered out, she added. Eventually, they opted to e-book a brand new flight for Aug. 22 out of Halifax, with one other member of the family volunteering to make an eight-hour drive to choose them up in Montreal and produce them again east on Saturday.

“It will be a multiday ordeal and a multi thousand dollar trip,” MacDonald stated. But as tense because the disruptions have been, she added that her household stands in solidarity with the flight attendants. “We hope that Air Canada lifts the lockout and negotiates fairly.”

Following the information of the Canadian authorities forcing arbitration on Saturday, Reyt additionally expressed concern for Air Canada’s flight attendants. “I think the flight attendants are making some reasonable arguments,” he stated, including that he hopes the intervention isn’t “a way just to silence them.”

Sides are far aside on pay

Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees have been in contract talks for about eight months, however they’ve but to succeed in a tentative deal.

Both sides say they continue to be far aside on the difficulty of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes aren’t within the air.

“We are heartbroken for our passengers. Nobody wants to see Canadians stranded or anxious about their travel plans but we cannot work for free,” Natasha Stea, an Air Canada flight attendant and native union president, stated earlier than the federal government intervention was introduced.

The attendants are about 70% ladies. Stea stated Air Canada pilots, who’re male dominated, acquired a big increase final 12 months and questioned whether or not they’re getting honest remedy.

The airline’s newest provide included a 38% enhance in whole compensation, together with advantages and pensions over 4 years, that it stated “would have made our flight attendants the best compensated in Canada.”

But the union pushed again, saying the proposed 8% increase within the first 12 months didn’t go far sufficient due to inflation.