Air Canada strike continues as workers defy a return-to-work order: When will operations return to normal?

About 10,000 flight attendants went on strike at Air Canada early Saturday morning, following a breakdown in negotiations between the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the country’s largest airline, Air Canada.

The strike has left more than 130,000 passengers stranded each day, as the airline had to suspend operations of both its main line and its budget brand Rouge when the strike began. The Montreal-based airline had already canceled hundreds of flights in the days leading up to the deadline and said it had imposed a lockout in response to the shutdown.

When will operations resume?

On Sunday morning, following government intervention to send the union and the airline to arbitration to end the work stoppage, Air Canada announced the gradual resumption of its flights.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) has ordered Air Canada to resume operations and all Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants to return to duty by 2:00 p.m. However, CUPE has rejected the imposition of arbitration, accusing the government of betraying workers, and has highlighted a possible conflict of interest, which they say makes the order unconstitutional.

“In an almost unthinkable display of conflict-of-interest, a former Air Canada legal counsel, Maryse Tremblay, will rule on whether to end job action by striking Air Canada flight attendants at the Canada Industrial Relations Board,” announced CUPE’s communications team on Saturday, just after the strike had begun.

Tremblay, who chairs the CIRB and previously served as Senior Counsel for Labour and Employment at Air Canada from 1998 to 2004, refused to recuse herself from the case despite a formal request from the union. The union argues that her refusal makes it “increasingly difficult to escape the appearance of collusion between Air Canada and the Liberal government throughout this process.”

Though some workers may report back to their posts on Sunday afternoon, meeting the deadline set by the government, it is clear that many will remain on the picket line. Without clear numbers of who will be returning to work, travelers should continue to expect disruptions if they are traveling with Air Canada.

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