Canada’s government has intervened to end a massive strike at Air Canada, directing more than 10,000 flight attendants back to work after the walkout grounded flights and stranded tens of thousands of passengers. The decision, however, has ignited a political and labour firestorm.
According to Bloomberg, around 10,500 flight attendants walked off the job early Saturday after contract talks between the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and Air Canada collapsed. The airline responded by cancelling hundreds of flights and locking out staff, disrupting travel for an estimated 130,000 passengers a day during the peak summer season.
Air Canada, the country’s largest carrier, also warned that its network could take up to a week to return to full operations. Business groups estimated nearly one million passengers and significant cargo shipments could be impacted if the disruption dragged on.
Ottawa steps in
Less than 12 hours into the strike, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu directed the independent Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to order flight attendants back to work. Hajdu also asked the board to impose binding arbitration and extend the terms of the current contract until a new one is decided.
“It has now become clear that this dispute won’t be resolved at the table,” Hajdu said in a statement, adding that Canadians were already in “very difficult situations” and the strike was “rapidly impacting the Canadian economy.”
Bloomberg noted that in past disputes involving Canada’s railway and postal workers, the CIRB acted within days to enforce similar government orders.
Union backlash
The move has been fiercely opposed by CUPE, which represents the flight attendants. The union accused the government of siding with the airline, saying the directive rewards Air Canada while “crushing workers’ rights.”
Despite the government order, CUPE vowed that the strike would continue, intensifying the pressure on Ottawa and the airline.
Polling by Abacus Data, cited by Bloomberg, revealed that 59 per cent of Canadians wanted the government to respect workers’ right to strike, even at the cost of travel disruptions. A majority of respondents expressed more sympathy for the flight attendants than for the airline.
Political and business reactions
The government’s move has divided opinion across Canada. Business groups welcomed the intervention. Matthew Holmes, head of public policy at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said: “With valuable cargo grounded and passengers stranded, the government made the right decision to refer the two sides to binding arbitration. Every hour counts.”
But opposition politicians condemned Prime Minister Mark Carney’s handling of the crisis. Conservative Party labour spokesman Kyle Seeback accused Carney of siding with corporations over workers. “He is proving once again that he is no friend to workers or labour, and would rather reward his corporate buddies than pay flight attendants who work tirelessly on their feet all day,” Seeback said, as quoted by Bloomberg.
A controversial legal tool
At the heart of the dispute is Ottawa’s use of a controversial legal power that allows the government to direct the CIRB to impose arbitration in order to “secure industrial peace.” While successive governments have used it in critical labour disputes, unions argue it undermines collective bargaining and emboldens companies to wait for state intervention rather than negotiate.
It remains unclear when flights will resume. If the CIRB acts as swiftly as in past cases, arbitration could be enforced within days. But until then, Canada faces deepening travel chaos, a widening political storm, and a fundamental clash over the balance between workers’ rights and economic stability.
(With inputs from the agencies)
