Thousands of flight attendants have walked off the job over a wage contract dispute, forcing the airline to cancel all of its daily flights
The Canadian government on Saturday moved to end a strike by Air Canada cabin crew by asking a labour board to order binding arbitration, an action that the country’s largest carrier had sought and which the striking flight attendants opposed.
Thousands of Air Canada unionised flight attendants walked off the job over a wage contract dispute just before 1am, forcing Air Canada to cancel all of its 700 daily flights, affecting more than 100,000 travellers who had to find alternative flights or stay put.
Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu at a news conference said she had asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration on both sides and order an immediate end to the strike.
Air Canada had indicated it would take four to five days to resume full operations, she said, assuming the board granted the government’s request, which it usually does.
