Air Canada flight attendants fail to return to work despite government order
Air Canada said striking flight attendants failed to return to work following industrial action, despite an order by the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) instructing them to do so.
On August 17, 2025, Air Canada announced that flights would restart after the CIRB acted on a directive from Patty Hajdu, the Federal Minister of Jobs and Families, referring the airline’s contract negotiations with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) to final binding interest arbitration.
Under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, and the CIRB’s order, the strike at Air Canada that resulted in the suspension of more than 700 flights was deemed effectively over.
However, in a later statement on August 18, 2025, Air Canada said that it had “suspended its plan to resume limited flying” after CUPE “illegally directed its flight attendant members to defy a direction to return to work”.
Around 240 flights scheduled to operate during the afternoon on August 17, 2025, were subsequently cancelled. Air Canada said it will resume flights in the evening of August 18, 2025.
“This is not over,” said CUPE National President Mark Hancock. “We will continue to fight on the picket lines, on the streets, at the bargaining table, in the courts, and in Parliament, until the injustice of unpaid work is done for good. Workers will win – despite the best effort of the Liberal government and their corporate friends.”
Strikes by Air Canada flight attendants began on August 16, 2025, over the airline refusing to increase flight attendant wages to match industry standards, inflation, or even federal minimum wage, according to CUPE.
The union also noted that “flight attendants are only paid when the plane is moving, and work as many as 35 unpaid hours a week performing vital duties”.
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Air Canada said striking flight attendants failed to return to work following industrial action, despite an order by…
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