Canadian government forces striking crew and Air Canada to arbitrate
發佈日期: 2025-08-18 00:49
TVB News
The Canadian government has forced Air Canada and its striking flight attendants back to work and into arbitration.
Thousands of Air Canada flight attendants walked off the job for the first time since 1985.
In anticipation of the work stoppage, the airline cancelled nearly all of its 700 daily flights, forcing more than 100,000 travellers to look for alternatives.
Canada's Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said the decision to direct the two sides to arbitrate was not one she had taken lightly, but the potential for immediate negative impact on Canadians and the country's economy was too great.
Canadian businesses, already reeling from the trade dispute with the U.S., have urged the federal government to impose binding arbitration and cut short the strike.
Not surprisingly, the union of the striking crew blasted the government's decision.
Wesley Lesosky, President of the Air Canada Component of CUPE said, "We do not want to be here. We're here because Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge have forced us to be here. We are here because Air Canada pays our junior flight attendants so little, we had to open food banks in our union offices. Because our flight attendants are living six or eight or 10 to a two-bedroom apartment in Toronto, or in RV's in the parking lot in the Vancouver Airport."
"We are here because Air Canada forces us to work for free for hours and hours every day.
And we are here because we are not going to accept it anymore." said Lesosky.
