What Happens Now After Air Canada’s Flight Attendants Defy Order to End Strike?

What happens now? 

That’s the top of mind question for Canada’s travel advisors and travelling public, after the Air Canada Component of the CUPE union instructed its 10,000 flight attendant members to defy an order from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to return to work. 

After saying limited flights would begin yesterday afternoon, Air Canada suspended that plan following the union announcement. It now says flights will resume this evening, but there’s little indication as to how that can possibly happen.

All operations of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge – about 700 flights per day — were suspended Saturday, August 16, after CUPE rejected Air Canada’s suggestion of binding arbitration. 

If followed, CIRB’s action would have ended both CUPE’s strike and the lockout Air Canada had imposed in response. Instead, the union, which received a 99.7% strike mandate vote from union members, took the rare step of defying the order.

Back in 1978, Canadian postal workers refused to comply with back-to-work legislation, an act of defiance that resulted in fines and the jailing of their union leader for contempt of Parliament. Forty-five years later, it’s possible such a scenario could happen again.

Speaking to CTV News, Rafael Gomez, a professor of employment relations at the University of Toronto, said: “The federal government has entrusted a board to administer these rules in the Canadian Labour Code, and if you defy them, you are transgressing and essentially violating the law.”

Another academic, Michael Lynk, professor emeritus at Western University’s Faculty of Law, told CTV that the government’s best option is to go to court and seek a contempt order if the union refuses to back down.

“The union leadership could face the same consequences as what happened 45 years ago. It could be fines against the union … potential of jail time for the union leaders,” he said.

Another option for the minority Liberal government is to attempt to pass back-to-work legislation, but that would require support from other parties, which is far from assured. As well, that potential solution is complicated by the fact that parliament is on summer recess until September 15.

The strike has already been a costly one for Air Canada, both financially and reputationally. The airline issued a press release suspending its guidance for third quarter and full-year 2025 operating results due to the effects of the labour disruption.

A few things to remember:

• Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz or PAL continue to operate as normal.

• Air Canada says customers whose flights are cancelled will be notified and strongly advises them not to go the airport unless they have confirmed flights on other airlines. 

• Air Canada is offering those with cancelled flights options including a full refund or receiving a credit for future travel. The carrier also has a legal responsibility to rebook customers on other carriers, although that is tempered by the reality that excess capacity is limited due to the peak summer travel season and the fact that airlines have consistently filling more than 85% of their seats.

The CIRB order would have extended the terms of the expired collective agreement between Air Canada and CUPE. It also would have imposed binding arbitration to resolve outstanding issues in a new agreement. The most contentious issue has been the union’s demand for compensation for time spent on the ground between flights and when helping passengers board. 

On Friday, Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu urged Air Canada and the union to get back to the negotiating table. She also asked CUPE to consider the airline’s request for arbitration, but that was turned down. The government’s use of its power to force binding arbitration through CIRB, called Section 107, is a relatively new approach, and unions really don’t like it.

CUPE says the prospect of the federal government using the Canada Labour Code to force arbitration has led Air Canada to stop engaging in “good faith” negotiations. It said mandatory arbitration would “interfere in negotiations” and result in “a contract imposed by an outside third-party arbitrator.”

“Like many Canadians, the minister is monitoring this situation closely,” Jennifer Kozelj, Hajdu’s press secretary, said in a statement yesterday.

Canadian travel professionals are also monitoring the situation closely, and many are spending countless hours trying to assist customers whose travel plans have been thrown into chaos by the strike.