Yesterday, Air Canada canceled all flights, amid a contract dispute between management and the union. Flight attendants issued a strike warning, and the airline responded with a lockout warning, which caused all Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights to be canceled, with no end in sight.
There’s already an update — this strike won’t last much longer than a day, as the Canadian government is forcing flight attendants to return to work.
Canadian government forces Air Canada arbitration
Patty Hajdu, Canada’s Minister of Jobs and Families, is forcing Air Canada flight attendants to return to work. Specifically, she’s calling on Air Canada management and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) to enter binding arbitration with the Canadian Industrial Relations Board.
This is being done as Hajdu exercises her authorities under section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, “because it is critical to maintaining and securing industrial peace, protecting Canadians and promoting conditions to resolve the dispute.”
It’s worth noting that this is something that Air Canada management was calling for, while the union vehemently opposed it, arguing that binding arbitration doesn’t allow union members to vote on a new contract, so it takes the democracy out of their collective bargaining.
As Hajdu explains, “the government firmly believes that the best deals are reached by the parties at the bargaining table,” and “it has now become clear that this dispute won’t be resolved at the table.”
Why is she stepping in to stop the strike? Hajdu argues that “Canadians are increasingly finding themselves in very difficult situations and the strike is rapidly impacting the Canadian economy,” and that “flight attendants play a critical role in keeping Canadian families and workers safe as they travel.”
Flight attendant union furious with this decision
The flight attendant union opposes binding arbitration, and is angry at the government for its actions, arguing that “the Liberal government is rewarding Air Canada’s refusal to negotiate fairly by giving them exactly what they wanted.” Here’s what Wesley Lesosky, President of Air Canada’s CUPE, had to say:
“The Liberals have talked out of both sides of their mouths. They said the best place for this is at the bargaining table. They refused to correct this historic injustice through legislation. Now, when we’re at the bargaining table with an obstinate employer, the Liberals are violating our Charter rights to take job action and give Air Canada exactly what they want — hours and hours of unpaid labour from underpaid flight attendants, while the company pulls in sky-high profits and extraordinary executive compensation.”
The union argues that this sets a terrible precedent, and that contrary to the government’s claims, this will not ensure labor peace at Air Canada. In a previous post, I talked a bit about what’s at the heart of this labor dispute, and how the two parties can’t see eye-to-eye.
Air Canada’s plan to gradually resume flights
Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge plan to gradually resume flights as of today, Sunday, August 17, 2025. The airline has been directed to resume operations as of 2PM EDT today.
However, given that some crews are out of place, Air Canada expects that it will take several days before its operations return to normal. During this process, some flights will be canceled over the next 7-10 days, until the schedule is stabilized.
My take on the evolution of Air Canada’s labor dispute
A couple of thoughts come to mind about this situation. First of all, I have to imagine that flight attendants won’t be overjoyed about being forced to return to work, so I suspect service won’t consistently be that friendly in the coming days and weeks. For that matter, one wonders if there might be a higher percentage of “sick” flight attendants than usual.
Second of all, I just find the reality of labor negotiations to often be so frustrating, and this is the prime example of that. This isn’t about whether management or the union are more in the right. Instead, if the government is going to compel flight attendants to return to work and not allow them to strike, then why not do that before they actually go on strike, rather than a day in?
Not only were tens of thousands of passengers stranded yesterday, but presumably many people have already changed their travel plans over the coming days, in anticipation of this dragging on. For that matter, it will take days for the schedule to be fully restored.
If the government thinks aviation is too important to allow for strikes, and if forced arbitration is going to be the outcome, why not acknowledge that before the impacts are felt by the traveling public? It’s not like the government only realized after the strike started that Air Canada shutting down would have an impact on the economy…
Bottom line
Air Canada flight attendants are being forced to return to work, as the Canadian government has decided that the flight attendant union and Air Canada must enter binding arbitration. This is what management wanted, while it’s something that the union opposed.
Air Canada will gradually resume operations as of 2PM EDT today (Sunday), though expect some operational disruptions for days to come. And that assumes that Air Canada flight attendants all actually return to work as they’re being told to do.
What do you make of this update to the Air Canada strike?
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