A strike by 1000’s of Air Canada flight attendants induced journey chaos and lots of of flight cancellations throughout the nation on Saturday, together with 24 at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport and two at John Wayne Airport.
The Canadian authorities shortly stepped in Saturday morning, shutting down the strike by imposing binding arbitration and forcing the flight attendants again to work.
“It has now grow to be clear that this dispute gained’t be resolved on the desk,” Canada’s labor minister Patty Hajdu mentioned in an announcement, including that the federal government should act to protect stability and provide chains.
The strike began about 10 p.m. Friday and was introduced by the Canada Union of Public Staff, which represents roughly 10,000 flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge. The dispute was tied to contract negotiations over unpaid work and low wages, in line with an announcement from the union.
Air Canada operates round 700 flights per day and began winding down operations two days in the past in anticipation of the deliberate strike, on the time estimating it might have an effect on about 130,000 clients.
The airline mentioned it might notify clients on canceled flights of their choices, saying it deeply regrets the impact of the labor dispute.
An unbiased industrial relations board will assessment the dispute over the following two days. In response to Hajdu, it might take Air Canada 5 to 10 days to ramp again as much as common companies.
Canada is not any stranger to air journey strikes. Final yr, pilots for WestJet Airways, the nation’s second-largest airline behind Air Canada, threatened to strike over a brand new contract. The identical yr, a aircraft mechanics union went on strike over wages, resulting in lots of of WestJet flight cancellations.
Air journey strikes have popped up within the U.S. as properly. Round 500 Spirit Airways pilots went on strike for 5 days in 2010, resulting in lots of of flight cancellations. In 2023, LAX employees voted to authorize a strike over stalls in contract negotiations.
