Over the weekend, Federal Labour Minister Patty Hajdu invoked a legal provision to halt the strike and force both sides into binding arbitration.
Following Hajdu’s intervention, the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), a regulatory tribunal, ordered the flight attendants back to work Sunday.
The flight attendants’ union said it would defy the order, forcing Air Canada to walk back plans to partially restore service.
CIRB regulators upped the pressure Monday.
It ordered the union “to resume the performance of their duties immediately and to refrain from engaging in unlawful strike activities,” Air Canada said in a statement.
The tribunal gave the Canadian Union of Public Employees until 12:00 pm (1600 GMT) to communicate to members that they “are required to resume the performance of their duties,” the carrier added.
Speaking after that deadline, CUPE president Mark Hancock told reporters the solution “has to be found at a bargaining table,” and that the union will not respect the tribunal’s ruling.
“None of us want to be in defiance of the law,” he said, but stressed the union would not waver in advocating for people asked to work hours on the ground during flight delays without “getting paid a dime.”
If Air Canada “thinks that planes will be flying this afternoon, they’re sorely mistaken,” Hancock said.
The union said later Monday that it had resumed talks with the airline as part of “continued attempts to reach a fair deal.”
The evening meetings were taking place in Toronto with the assistance of a mediator, William Kaplan, CUPE’s Air Canada component said in a statement on Facebook.
But it added that “at this time, the strike is still on, and the talks have just commenced.”
