The Canadian government decided on Saturday to intervene to end a hostess and stewards strike paralyzing Air Canada’s activities, the country’s main airline in this summer weekend, with hundreds of canceled flights.
The Minister of Employment, Patty Hajdu, summoned the parties to “resume and continue their activities and their functions”.
The strike, initiated by the navigating staff to obtain a better remuneration, would only make the “financial burden” of the Canadians, she warned.
The federal government has requested an independent arbiter, the Canadian Industrial Relations Council (CCI), to settle disputes between the airline and the Canadian Public Service Syndicate (SCFP).
The CCRI has the power to order the resumption of activities, but will have to start by examining the declarations of the parties and decide if it wishes to intervene, which can take “between 24 and 48 hours”, according to the minister.
In the meantime, the strike, which impacts 130,000 passengers per day according to Air Canada, therefore continues.
“We are deeply saddened for our passengers. No one wants to see Canadians blocked or worried about their travel projects, but we cannot work for free,” insisted Natasha Stea, a representative of the Air Hostesses.
– Unpaid soil work –
The SCFP union, which represents some 10,000 navigation staff, went on strike on the night of Friday to Saturday to claim better remuneration.
Beyond a salary increase, the navigating staff demands to be paid for hours of ground work, including when boarding, which is not the case today.
In response, Air Canada sparked “a lockout of the 10,000 Red Air Canada” agents “represented by the union, nailing its planes on the ground.
Air Canada, which directly serves 180 cities around the world, “strongly advises concerned customers not to go to the airport”.
Natasha Guwen is one of the many passengers whose flight has been canceled. “They try to put us on another flight, but nothing is certain,” reports this Indian tourist from Toronto airport to AFP.
Even before the official start of the strike, the airline had gradually reduced its operations. Friday evening, she announced that she had already canceled 623 flights in recent days, affecting more than 100,000 passengers.
– Effects on the economy –
The conflict, in high season, puts under Air Canada pressure. The company had detailed a compromise offer on Thursday, providing for the average annual annual salary of a senior on -board agent to 87,000 Canadian dollars (65,000 USD) by 2027, but the SCFP had judged insufficient proposals in terms of inflation.
The union had also rejected requests from the company and the Canadian government to try to resolve litigation by using independent arbitration.
This is not the first time that the Canadian government has intervened in a social conflict. In November 2024, he had thus ordered the immediate resumption of operations in several Canadian ports, then in August of the same year the return to work of the railway workers.
In the case of Air Canada, the airline estimates that it will take between five and ten days for its activities to resume their usual pace.
The Canadian economy, although showing signs of resilience, is beginning to experience the effects of the trade war initiated by US President Donald Trump, with customs duties affecting crucial sectors for the country such as automotive, aluminum and steel.
In a statement published before the start of the strike, the Canadian Affairs Council, which brings together leaders of more than a hundred large companies, had warned of the risk of seeing these difficulties aggravated by a strike in Air Canada.
“At a time when Canada faces unprecedented pressures on our critical economic supply chains, the disruption of national passenger and air freight services would cause immediate and considerable damage to all Canadians,” the organization said.
Posted on August 16 at 11:14 p.m., AFP
