Air Canada flight attendant union refuses to end unlawful strike

The union representing Air Canada flight attendants says it can continue to defy a back-to-work order despite the Canada Industrial Relations Board ruling their strike “unlawful”.

The impartial federal tribunal deemed the job motion by the cabin crews – now in its third day – unlawful on Monday after the union defied a authorities back-to-work order issued over the weekend.

“If Air Canada thinks planes will be flying this afternoon, they’re sorely mistaken,” said Canadian Union of Public Employees president Mark Hancock.

The strike by more than 10,000 flight attendants for Canada’s largest airline has stranded tens of hundreds of passengers since flights had been grounded on Saturday.

Air Canada has not yet responded to the union’s latest transfer.

The airline said earlier that it deliberate to resume flights by Monday night, but a discover on its web site as of Monday afternoon said its operations “remain suspended”.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board determination ordered the union to ship its members back to work by 12:00 EST (16:00GMT) on Monday, and also directed the members to return to their duties.

It is unclear what penalties the CUPE now faces for its defiance.

At a news convention, Mr Hancock said the union is keen to settle for any penalties for its refusal to comply, including financial fines and jail time.

“If it means folks like me going to jail, then so be it,” he told reporters, including that the union will only settle for to resolve this through a negotiated settlement at the bargaining desk.

Under Canadian law, the union and particular person staff may very well be fined or sanctioned for refusing to return to work, Western University law professor Michael Lynk told GWN.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said it was “disappointing” that Air Canada and its cabin crew had been unable to attain an settlement after eight months of negotiations.

“We are in a situation where literally hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors to our country are being disrupted by this action,” Carney said in Ottawa on Monday.

“I urge both parties to resolve this as quickly as possible.”

The airline estimates some 500,000 passengers have so far been affected by flight cancellations.

Stranded passenger Jenny Phelps told GWN she struggled to attain the airline while making an attempt to rebook her cancelled flights.

She said that, while she helps the strike motion by the flight crews, she’s on the hook for three additional lodge nights and called the expertise “super stressful and very expensive”.

In their remarks on Monday, union representatives apologised for the affect the job motion has had on travellers across Canada.

“Our fight is not with you. We do not want to be here,” said Candace Rennick, the union’s national secretary-treasurer. “But these workers who are mostly women have waited too long to have their issues addressed.”

Flight attendants are calling for increased salaries and to be paid for work when plane are on the ground.

In contract negotiations, Air Canada said it had provided flight attendants a 38% increase in whole compensation over 4 years, with a 25% raise in the first yr.

CUPE said the offer was “below inflation, below market value, below minimum wage” and would still go away flight attendants unpaid for some hours of work, including boarding and ready at airports forward of flights.

The union and the airline have publicly traded barbs about each other’s willingness to attain an settlement.

On Saturday, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu ordered binding arbitration to end the dispute.

CUPE made the uncommon transfer of directing its members to ignore a back-to-work order on Sunday and accused the federal government of “caving to corporate pressure”.

Earlier this month, 99.7% of workers represented by the union voted for a strike.