The union representing Air Canada flight attendants says it will continue defying the back-to-work order by the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) after the board said on Aug. 18 that the continued labour action is illegal.
Air Canada flight attendants have been on strike since Aug. 16 over improved pay. Work stoppages have so far led to cancelled flights for about 500,000 passengers, according to the airline.
Meanwhile, the union said on Aug. 18 that Air Canada had reached out to resume negotiations, which had broken off last week.
Back-to-Work Order
Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu on Aug. 16 said she is invoking Section 107 of the Labour Code to ask the CIRB to intervene in the dispute, and the board later ordered the union back to work by Aug. 17, saying the current terms of agreement remain in place until a new agreement is signed. The airline, which had planned to resume operations on Aug. 17, postponed restart plans to Aug. 18 as the union said it will defy the board’s back-to-work order, deeming it unconstitutional.Subsequently, CIRB said on Aug. 18 that the flight attendants’ continued labour action is illegal.
“The union and its officers are ordered to immediately cease all activities that declare or authorize an unlawful strike of its members and to direct the members of the bargaining unit to resume the performance of their duties,” CIRB said, adding, “The board’s reasons will be issued to the parties in due course.”
However, Marc Hancock, national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) which represents Air Canada flight attendants, said on Aug. 18 that the work stoppage will continue. He added that “real negotiations cannot happen if only one side is banking on the government taking away the rights of another party.”
Hancock said the union is standing up for constitutionally-protected rights to collective bargaining for all Canadians, and said he is willing to go to jail if necessary to protect the right to strike.
Air Canada on Aug. 18 echoed CIRB’s order that the strike is “unlawful,” saying that it “regrets this impact on its customers and is fully committed to returning to service as soon as possible.”
The dispute centres on wages and ground pay, with flight attendants arguing it’s unfair that they aren’t compensated for work done while planes are grounded, and also seeking higher overall pay.
Air Canada says it has proposed what it calls a 38 percent increase in total compensation over four years, covering wages, pensions, health benefits, and vacation pay.
Pilots show support for Air Canada flight attendants participating in a general strike at Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport on Aug. 16, 2025. Andrej Ivanov/Getty Images
The union counters that inflation has outpaced wages over the past decade, and that the airline’s offer translates to just a 17.2 percent wage increase over the same period.
The union also says that Air Canada wasn’t engaging in good-faith negotiations, arguing the airline was banking on government intervention to send the flight attendants back to work.
Hajdu said on Aug. 18 that she has launched a probe on unpaid work in the airline sector.
“Flight attendants should be paid for the work that they do. The allegations of unpaid work in the airline sector are deeply concerning - we will be digging into this and will find out what is at the root of these allegations – because nobody should work for free,” Hajdu said.
Resumed Negotiations
CUPE said in the evening of Aug. 18 that meetings with Air Canada have resumed to negotiate a new deal.“The company reached out to the component president today, and we moved forward in our continued attempts to reach a fair deal,” the union said in an online update to members.
The union said that the strike is “still on” as the talks have just restarted.
Court Challenge
The union has launched a legal challenge against the back-to-work order in court. Air Canada, which says the grounded flights are impacting around 130,000 customers each day, cancelled the around 240 flights it had originally planned as part of its gradual operations ramp-up on Aug. 17. It also withdrew its financial forecasts for both the third quarter and the year due to the disruption.CIRB is a semi-independent tribunal which interprets and applies Canada’s labour code. In its ruling, the board said union officials have by 12 p.m. Eastern Time on Aug. 18 to release written notice publicly stating the strike has ended and that unionized flight attendants are back on the job.
Speaking to reporters on Aug. 18, Prime Minister Mark Carney said the failure of negotiations between Air Canada and flight attendants is “disappointing” and urged a quick resolution to the ongoing dispute. He added that “hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors to our country are being disrupted by this action.”
Conservative MP Kyle Seeback, who serves as his party’s shadow minister for labour, expressed support for striking Air Canada flight attendants on Aug. 16 on X, saying “the Carney Liberals have failed time and again to use the tools that would allow for a fair deal to be reached.”
Two Air Canada planes are seen on the tarmac of the Pierre-Elliott Trudeau Airport in Montreal on Aug. 15, 2025. Andrej Ivanov/AFP via Getty Images
In a letter to Hajdu earlier this month, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on the Carney government to amend the Labour Code to ensure flight attendants are paid for all time on the job, including before and after takeoff.
“These professionals play a vital role in our transportation system and deserve compensation that reflects the full scope of their responsibilities,” Poilievre wrote.
Interim NDP leader Don Davies said his party also supports the striking flight attendants, posting on X Aug. 17 that “The NDP stands with CUPE to defend free collective bargaining, fair wages and an end to forced free labour.”
The Air Canada chapter of CUPE and the airline have been in an ongoing labour dispute since the start of the year.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
