A leader of the union on strike against Air Canada AC.TO said on Monday he would risk jail time rather than allow cabin crews to be forced back to work by a federal labor board, raising the stakes in a battle that has disrupted flights for hundreds of thousands of travelers during tourist season.
- Flight attendants ask Air Canada to return to bargaining table
- Government ordered binding arbitration to break contract impasse
- Union seeks pay for ground duties, similar to some US airlines
By Allison Lampert, Promit Mukherjee and Rajesh Kumar Singh
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The Canadian Union of Public Employees said the strike would continue until the carrier negotiates on wages and unpaid work, even after the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) declared the strike unlawful.
"If it means folks like me going to jail, then so be it. If it means our union being fined, then so be it. We're looking for a solution here," said Mark Hancock, CUPE national president, at a press conference after a deadline by the board to return to work expired with no union action to end the strike.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pleaded for a resolution. A domestic tourism boom has helped blunt the economic damage from tariffs imposed by Canada's biggest trade partner, the United States, and Air Canada is the country's biggest carrier.
"We are in a situation where literally hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors to our country are being disrupted by this action," Carney told reporters in Ottawa. "I urge both parties to resolve...
