Thousands of Air Canada flight attendants vowed to stay on strike Sunday, defying a federal back-to-work order and forcing the airline to delay plans to restart flights.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing more than 10,000 attendants, called the order unconstitutional and invited Air Canada to return to the table to negotiate “a fair deal.” The airline said it would now push its restart to Monday evening, leaving travellers in limbo.
“I don’t think anyone’s in the mood to go back to work,” said Lillian Speedie, CUPE Local 4092 vice-president, at a picket line in Toronto. “To legislate us back to work 12 hours after we started? Snowstorms have shut Air Canada down for longer.”
The strike, the first since 1985, grounded around 700 flights on Saturday and stranded more than 100,000 passengers. The dispute centres on pay and demands for compensation during unpaid hours on the ground.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government had asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to impose binding arbitration to protect the economy. But the union said CIRB chair Maryse Tremblay faced a “conflict of interest” after serving as senior counsel at Air Canada from 1998 to 2004.
Other unions joined flight attendants in solidarity on Sunday. Passengers, meanwhile, voiced anger and confusion. “We are left to figure it out ourselves with no options provided by Air Canada,” said Elizabeth Fourney, who was stranded at Toronto Pearson Airport.
The airline said about 240 flights scheduled for Sunday were cancelled. Customers will be offered refunds, credits, or limited rebooking on other carriers, though options are slim in peak summer.
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