The Liberal government under Mark Carney has done incalculable damage to the Charter and workers’ rights by siding with Air Canada to crush the rights of flight attendants at Air Canada. Today, Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu used Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to intervene on behalf of Air Canada to end flight attendants’ strike after less than 12 hours, referring the matter to the CIRB for forced arbitration.
“This is not over,” said CUPE National President Mark Hancock. “We will continue to fight on the picket lines, on the streets, at the bargaining table, in the courts, and in Parliament, until the injustice of unpaid work is done for good. Workers will win – despite the best effort of the Liberal government and their corporate friends.”
Air Canada knew they could avoid ending the abuse of unpaid work and poverty wages for flight attendants as long as they stonewalled negotiations – and the Liberals proved them right yet again.
“This is absolutely shameful and a blatant betrayal,” said CUPE National Secretary-Treasurer Candace Rennick. “The government’s decision to intervene on behalf of an already wildly profitable employer, while a predominantly female workforce fights tooth and nail for a path out of poverty, is not just unjust, it’s a disgraceful misuse of power that reeks of systemic bias and corporate favoritism.”
The Liberals’ actions today will not ensure labour peace at Air Canada. This will only ensure that the unresolved issues will continue to worsen by kicking them down the road. Nor will it ensure labour peace in this industry — because unpaid work is an unfair practice that pervades nearly the entire airline sector. This issue will continue to arise in negotiations between flight attendants and other carriers like WestJet and Porter, who now have no incentive to bargain because they know Mark Carney and the Liberals will bail them out.