CUPE says Air Canada strike to continue, defying order

The Canadian Union of Public Employees says a strike by 10,000 flight attendants at Air Canada will continue, defying an order from the Canada Industrial Relations Board that it provide public notice by noon ET Monday that it had ended the strike.

"We will not be returning to the skies this afternoon," said CUPE national president Mark Hancock at a press conference shortly after the deadline had passed. 

The industrial relations board had declared the strike unlawful and ordered it to end after the federal government on Saturday used Section 107 of the Labour Code to force the two sides into binding arbitration.

Hancock said Monday that the union would press on as it was fighting not just for flight attendants, but for the right to collective bargaining.

"If it means folks like me going to jail, then so be it. If it means our union being fined, then so be it. We're looking for a solution here, our members want a solution here. But that solution has to be found at a bargaining table."

Labour leaders have cried foul on the federal government's repeated use of Section 107 to cut off workers right to strike and force them into arbitration, as the government has already done in recent years with workers at ports, railways and elsewhere.

Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier Monday urged both sides to quickly resolve the situation causing major chaos for travellers, expressing disappointment that the two sides weren't able to reach a deal to avoid disrupting travel for hundreds of thousands of people. 

Carney made the comments to reporters ahead of a meeting with Ontario Premier Doug Ford in Ottawa, while federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu is expected to provide a formal update later Monday.

Flight attendants went on strike early Saturday morning after talks broke down and the two sides failed to reach a deal on Friday.

Air Canada estimated Monday that some 500,000 customers’ flights have been cancelled since the strike began.  

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan