The Canadian government has intervened in the ongoing strike by Air Canada flight attendants, ordering them to return to work while imposing binding arbitration.
Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu referred the dispute to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) following a walkout by about 10,000 attendants that led to the suspension of nearly 700 daily flights and left over 100,000 passengers stranded .
Despite the government and CIRB directives, the union representing the attendants—CUPE—has defiantly refused to comply, calling the return-to-work order unconstitutional and pledging to continue the strike .
In response to this resistance, Air Canada has pushed the planned resumption of flights from Sunday evening to Monday evening, anticipating it may take up to a week or more to fully restore operations .
