Union says Air Canada flight attendants won’t return to work despite strike being declared illegal
Article By: ROB GILLIES
TORONTO (AP) — Despite the declaration of the strike as illegal, the union representing 10,000 striking Air Canada flight attendants announced on Monday that they will not be returning to work. The strike, now in its third day, is impacting approximately 130,000 travelers daily during the peak of the summer travel season. The main issues of contention between the two sides include pay and other related matters.
Air Canada has extended rolling cancellations to Tuesday afternoon after the union defied a second return-to-work order. The airline had initially planned to resume operations on Monday evening, but the union president, Mark Hancock, stated that this would not be happening.
“We will not be returning to the skies,” said Hancock, the national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which also represents non-public sectors.
Defying a second return-to-work order
Despite the Canada Industrial Relations Board declaring the strike illegal and ordering the flight attendants back to work, the union has decided to defy the directive. Union leaders also disregarded a weekend order to submit to binding arbitration and end the strike by Sunday afternoon.
Hancock emphasized, “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 the solution has to be found at the bargaining table.”
The potential consequences if the union continues to refuse are currently unclear.
Labor leaders are criticizing the Canadian government’s use of a law that restricts workers’ right to strike and forces them into arbitration, a measure previously taken with workers in ports, railways, and other sectors.
“We are in a situation where literally hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors to our country are being disrupted by this action,” Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed. “I urge both parties to resolve this as quickly as possible.”
Carney expressed disappointment over the lack of progress in negotiations and stressed the importance of fair compensation for flight attendants at all times.
Following government intervention, the labor board ordered airline staff back to work by 2 p.m. Sunday and mandated the union to enter into arbitration. Air Canada then announced plans to resume flights Sunday evening. However, when the workers refused, the airline rescheduled the resumption of flights to Monday evening. Despite these developments, there is no indication that CUPE will change its stance.
Air Canada operates approximately 700 flights per day. The airline estimated that 500,000 customers would be impacted by flight cancellations.
According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, as of Monday afternoon, Air Canada had canceled at least 1,219 domestic flights and 1,339 international flights since last Thursday, when operations were gradually suspended in anticipation of the strike and lockout.
Air Canada’s Chief Executive, Michael Rousseau, expressed the hope for a swift resolution.
“We’re obviously hoping we can go tomorrow, but we’ll make that decision later today,” Rousseau stated on BNN Bloomberg shortly after the union’s announcement to continue with the strike.
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Travelers look out over grounded Air Canada planes as flight attendants picket at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Travelers look out over grounded Air Canada planes as flight attendants picket at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Disrupted tourists, stranded passengers
One Montreal resident, Robert Brzymowski, and his family have been stranded in Prague since Saturday when their Air Canada flight was canceled. The unexpected delay caused Brzymowski to lose out on a new job contract that was set to start on Monday.
“I wasn’t planning on losing my job over vacation,” Brzymowski expressed. “It’s just not right. The worst thing is the amount of anxiety it’s caused.”
Frustrated by the lack of communication from the airline, Brzymowski sought answers at the Prague airport on Monday morning. He managed to secure a new flight for his family on Aug. 25, over a week after their original flight date.
Due to the extended delay, his children will miss the first day of the new school year, and his wife will not receive pay for the week as she exhausted her paid time off for the year on this trip.
“I, for one, will never fly Air Canada again,” Brzymowski declared. “I’ll take a boat if I have to.”
Talks going back 8 months
The flight attendants went on strike early Saturday morning after rejecting the airline’s proposal for government-directed arbitration. Air Canada and CUPE have been in contract negotiations for about eight months, primarily disagreeing on pay and the uncompensated work flight attendants perform when flights are
