Air Canada to renew flights after authorities strikes to finish strike

By Rishabh Jaiswal

(Reuters) -Air Canada plans to renew flights afterward Sunday, a day after the federal government issued a directive to finish a cabin crew strike that precipitated the suspension of round 700 each day flights, stranding greater than 100,000 passengers.

Hundreds of Air Canada flight attendants walked off the job on Saturday, for the primary time since 1985, after months of negotiations over a brand new contract.

The nation’s largest provider stated flights would restart on Sunday night, however some would nonetheless be canceled over the subsequent 7-10 days because the schedule stabilizes and returns to regular. It had began cancelling flights on Friday in anticipation of the stoppage.

The Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ordered Air Canada to renew operations and all Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants to return to their duties by 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT), the airline stated in an announcement.

The CIRB was appearing on a directive from the nation’s Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu as the federal government moved to finish the strike and require binding arbitration to interrupt a contract deadlock, an motion that Air Canada had beforehand sought from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s minority Liberal authorities however unionized flight attendants fiercely opposed.

Probably the most contentious problem within the contract negotiations has been the union’s demand for compensation for time spent on the bottom between flights and when serving to passengers board. Attendants at the moment are largely paid solely when their aircraft is shifting.

The Canadian Union of Public Staff (CUPE) had pushed for a negotiated resolution, saying binding arbitration would take stress off the airline.

Air Canada stated on Sunday that the CIRB had ordered the phrases of the collective settlement between the union and the airline that expired on March 31 be prolonged till a brand new settlement could be reached.

The CUPE didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for remark.

(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Enhancing by Tomasz Janowski, Kirsten Donovan)