Government forces Air Canada and flight servers back to work and in arbitration

Toronto (AP) – The Government of Canada forced Air Canada and its striking flight operations to work and worked to arbitration on Saturday after a work stop during the highest summer trips stranded more than 100,000 travelers around the world. Employment Minister Patty Hajdu said now is not the time to take risks with the economy, and note the unprecedented rates imposed by the US on Canada. The intervention means that the 10,000 flight servers will return to work soon. The government’s actions were less than 12 hours after workers ran off work. “The talks have broken. It is clear that the parties are not closer to resolving some of the most important issues remaining and that they will need help with the arbitrator,” Hajdu said. Hajdu said the complete resumption of services could take days, noting that the Canada Industrial Relations Board. Meanwhile, Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada component of the Cup Union, accused the government of violating the constitutional right of flight to the downfall of the aircraft -and Hajdu decided to intervene only. “The liberal government rewards Air Canada’s refusal to negotiate fairly by giving them exactly what they wanted,” Lesosky said. Air Canada did not immediately have extra comments when it was reached on Saturday afternoon. With the timing of when the carrier will still resume operations in the air, travelers can continue to face disruptions in the coming days. The closing of the largest airline in Canada affects about 130,000 people per day early Saturday, and about 25,000 Canadians can be stranded. Air Canada works about 700 flights a day. Hajdu ordered the Canada Industrial Relations Council to extend the term of the existing collective agreement until a new one is determined by the arbitrator. “Canadians rely on air journey every day, and its importance cannot be underestimated,” she said. Union spokesman Hugh Pouliot did not know immediately what day workers would return to work. “We are on the pitch lines until further notice,” he said. The bitter contract fight escalated on Friday when the trade union rejected Air Canada’s previous request to incur the government-directed arbitration, enabling a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract. Mark Nasr, chief operating officer of Air Canada, said it could take up to a week to fully restart the operations. Flying providers walked off the track at about 1am on Saturday. About the same time, Air Canada said it would start to block air servers from airports. Ian Lee, an associate professor at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, earlier noted that the government repeatedly intervened in the transport strikes. “They will intervene to bring the strike to an end. Why? Because it happened 45 times from 1950 until now,” Lee said. “It’s all because of the incredible dependence on Canadians.” Last year, the government forced the country’s two major railways to arbitration with their union during a work stop. The trade union for the railway workers sue and argues that the government removes a trade union’s lever in negotiations. The Business Council of Canada urged the government to also impose binding arbitration in this case. And the Canadian Chamber of Commerce welcomes the intervention. “With valuable cargo based and passengers stranded, the government made the right decision to refer the two parties to binding arbitration,” said Matthew Holmes, the executive vice president of the Chamber of Commerce – and adds that ‘near a million Canadian and international visitors can take an impact’ if it takes Air Canada a week to re -operate. Hajdu maintained that her liberal government is not anti-union, saying it is clear that the two sides have an impasse. Passengers whose flights are affected will be eligible to request a full refund on the airline or mobile app website, according to Air Canada. The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options by other Canadian and foreign airlines, if possible. Still, it warned that it could not guarantee immediate re -booking, as flights on other airlines are already full “due to the summer travel peak.” Many travelers expressed frustration over Air Canada’s response to the strike. Jean – Nicolas Reyt, 42, said he had heard little about Air Canada a few hours before his coming flight from France planned on Sunday. “What is stressful is to hear nothing about Air Canada,” says Reyt, who tries to return to Montreal, where he is an associate professor in organizational behavior at McGill University. He said he only received one email from the airline on Thursday, warned about possible strike disruptions, but had no further information from Saturday night in Cannes, where he visited family. Reyt assumes that his upcoming flight can be canceled – just like the scores of other long disruptions this weekend. “I’m just very surprised that Air Canada lets it go so far,” he said. “It’s really a little disappointing that they fly you off abroad and then they just don’t fly you back.” Jennifer MacDonald, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, expressed similar frustration. She tried to come home to her brother and cousin with Edmonton, Alberta, since the second leg of their Air Canada journey was canceled during what was a 1 hour relaxation in Montreal on Friday night. The two had to pay $ 300 out of their own pocket for a hotel, MacDonald said. All Saturday morning they tried to look for re -booking options, but everything was sold out, she added. Eventually, they chose to book a new flight for August 22 from Halifax, with another family member who is voluntary to make an eight -hour ride to fetch them in Montreal and bring them back on Saturday. “It will be a multi -day ordeal and a journey of multi -thousand dollars,” MacDonald said. But just as stressful as the disruptions were, she added that her family stood in Solidarity with the flyer servers. “We hope that Air Canada lifts the exclusion and negotiates fairly.” After the news of the Canadian government that forced arbitration on Saturday, Reyt also expressed concern about Air Canada’s flyer servers. “I think the flight values make some reasonable arguments,” he said, adding that he hopes the intervention is not “a way to quiet it.” Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees have been in contract discussions for about eight months, but they have not yet reached a preliminary agreement. Both parties say they stay far apart about the issue of payment and do the unpaid work airplanes when aircraft are not in the air. “We are heartbreaking for our passengers. Nobody wants to see that Canadian is stranded or anxious about their travel plans, but we can’t work for free,” said Natasha Stea, an air hostess of Air Canada and the local trade union, before the government’s intervention was announced. The servants are about 70% women. Stea said Air Canada pilots, who dominate male, received a significant increase last year and questioned whether they received fair treatment. The latest offer of the airline included a 38% increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions over four years, which said that “our flight servers would best compensate in Canada.” But the union pushed back, saying the proposed 8% increase in the first year did not go far enough due to inflation. ___ Grantham-Philips reports from New York. Airlines reporter Rio Yamat contributed to this report by Las Vegas.