The federal government moved to end a nationwide disruption by invoking Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code on Saturday, ordering Air Canada flight attendants back to work and sending both sides to binding arbitration.
Less than 12 hours after the walkout began, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to issue a return-to-work order to “maintain or secure industrial peace.”
“This is not a decision that I have taken lightly but the potential for immediate negative impact on Canadians and our economy is simply too great,” Hajdu said.
However, the standoff hardened the next day. CUPE said it would defy the CIRB directive and challenge it as unconstitutional, keeping more than 10,000 flight attendants on strike. The union framed the minister’s move as rewarding intransigence at the bargaining table.
“The Liberal government is rewarding Air Canada’s refusal to negotiate fairly by giving them exactly what they wanted,” the Air Canada component of CUPE said, adding that members will contest “this blatantly unconstitutional order that violates the Charter rights of 10,000 flight attendants.”
On the line at Toronto Pearson, Local 4092 vice-president Lillian Speedie said, “I don’t think anyone’s in the mood to go back to work… I’m sorry, snowstorms have shut down Air Canada for longer than we were allowed to strike.”
Hajdu rejected claims the government is anti-union, arguing the parties hit an impasse after “multiple efforts” to close a deal. “I absolutely reject the notion that our government is anti-union,” she said. “In a case like this… it is very clear they need some help in arbitrating the final items.” The CIRB also extended the terms of the expired collective agreement until a new one is reached.
Air Canada cancelled roughly 240 flights it had planned to operate later that day and pushed its restart target to Monday evening, while acknowledging uncertainty about how it would fly without returning crew. The company reiterated that Air Canada Express services operated by Jazz and PAL continue, and it will offer refunds, credits, or rebooking on other carriers “although capacity is currently limited due to the peak summer travel season.”
The airline typically runs about 700 flights per day and said more than 100,000 passengers were stranded after the initial suspension.
READ: Air Canada Decries Impasse, Shutdown Looms This Week
Section 107
Section 107, once obscure, has become the government’s go-to lever in high-stakes disputes. It was used last year to halt work stoppages at ports, railyards, and Canada Post. Labour groups argue the mechanism chills bargaining and encourages employers to hold out for state intervention.
“We have a real concern that employers are getting the message that they can simply surface bargain, let the issues run to impasse and at that point the government will intervene,” said Chris Roberts of the Canadian Labour Congress.
He contrasted Section 107 with traditional back-to-work legislation, which at least required parliamentary scrutiny: “At least it forced the government to introduce legislation in the House of Commons, to have that legislation scrutinized by the opposition parties, and the media, and by the public.”
Employer-side counsel counter that Section 107 sits squarely within the law’s intent.
“It has quite broad language there in terms of allowing the minister to do, essentially, whatever the minister feels is necessary and expedient in terms of resolving industrial disputes,” said Vancouver lawyer Craig Munroe.
He emphasized the Supreme Court’s position that “while there’s a right to strike, that right isn’t absolute,” adding that government must retain “some capacity… to resolve the tension that exists between the right to strike and the impact that that strike might have on the broader public, and the national economic interest.”
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