The Right Honourable Mark Carney, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2
Re: CUPE Air Canada Workers’ Defiance of Back to Work Orders
Dear Prime Minister Carney,
On behalf of the Confederation of Canadian Unions (CCU), the largest affiliation of independent unions in the country, I am writing to express my profound concern and dismay regarding your government’s decision to impose back-to-work orders on the flight attendants of the Air Canada Component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), as well as your response to their courageous decision to defy that legislation.
Let me be clear: CUPE flight attendants did not choose this path lightly. Their refusal to accept back-to-work legislation is not a rash act of disobedience, but rather a deeply considered stand against years of federal interference in the collective bargaining process. When workers feel they have been left with no real avenue to bargain fairly, defiance becomes the only means of defending their rights.
The right to strike and bargain collectively is fundamental to democracy. It is protected not only under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms but also under conventions of the International Labour Organization, to which Canada is a signatory. These rights were won through generations of struggle, and they remain essential for workers to defend their interests in the face of corporate power. By legislating flight attendants back to work, your government has once again undermined these rights and tilted the balance dramatically in favour of the employer.
This is not an isolated incident. Over the last decade and a half, successive federal governments—Liberal and Conservative alike—have repeatedly turned to back-to-work orders and legislation at the first sign of labour unrest. Postal workers, railway workers, longshore workers, and airline workers have all seen their rights stripped away through heavy-handed laws. Rather than being an extraordinary, last-resort measure in cases of true national crisis, back-to-work legislation has become a routine management tool, wielded by governments to protect corporate interests and discipline working people.
The consequences are dire. Each time back-to-work laws are imposed, employers are emboldened to bargain in bad faith. Why would Air Canada’s management feel any urgency to negotiate seriously with its employees when it can expect the government to intervene on its behalf? The cycle is predictable: workers attempt to exercise their legal right to strike, the employer stonewalls, and the government steps in with back to work legislation. The result is a hollow bargaining process where the outcome is already predetermined.
This is the context in which CUPE flight attendants have taken their stand. Their defiance is not about seeking chaos or disruption—it is about reclaiming a right that has been eroded again and again by federal action.
Your government’s rhetoric suggests that such legislation is necessary to protect the “public interest.” But the public interest is not served by stripping workers of their democratic freedoms. The public interest lies in ensuring that Canadians sustain decent wages, safe working conditions, and fair treatment on the job. Those gains have never been handed down from above; they have been won through free collective bargaining and, when necessary, even strike action. To weaken those tools is to weaken the very mechanism through which ordinary Canadians have improved their lives for generations.
And speaking of that public interest, Canadians are speaking out and clearly taking the side of CUPE workers. A recent poll conducted by Abacus Data shows that 88% per cent of Canadians believe flight attendants should be paid for all work-related duties including boarding, delays, and safety checks, and that 59% of Canadians believe the federal government should respect flight attendants’ right to take job action – even if it causes travel disruptions.
The real disruption to the public interest comes not from strikes themselves, but from the refusal of corporations and governments to bargain fairly. It is the refusal of Air Canada’s management to meet the legitimate demands of flight attendants that created this dispute, not the willingness of workers to stand up for themselves.
Prime Minister, you had an opportunity to demonstrate leadership by respecting the bargaining process and urging Air Canada back to the table. Instead, you chose coercion. This path will not bring labour peace. It will only deepen resentment, erode trust, and set a dangerous precedent for future disputes. Workers will remember that when they sought fairness, their government responded not with dialogue but with force.
The Confederation of Canadian Unions stands firmly with CUPE flight attendants in their struggle. Their courage in the face of unjust legislation inspires us all. Their defiance is not lawlessness—it is democracy in action.
I urge you to change course. Repeal the back-to-work legislation imposed on Air Canada flight attendants. Direct management back to the bargaining table and allow the parties to negotiate freely, without government interference. And most importantly, commit to ending the routine use of back-to-work legislation in this country.
Canada’s democratic traditions are stronger when workers’ rights are respected. They are weakened every time governments legislate employees back to work and deny them a fair process. The workers of Air Canada have drawn a line in the sand, and they deserve our support.
Sincerely,
Gregory Ball
President, Confederation of Canadian Unions
(613) 518-8116
president@ccu-csc.ca
ccu-csc.ca
