THUNDER BAY — CUPE members, union representatives, and supporters rallied outside MP Patty Hajdu’s office to protest the federal government’s decision to end the Air Canada flight attendants' strike by invoking Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code.
“We’re all here in support of the Air Canada workers who are currently on strike,” said Devin Klassen, CUPE national staff representative. “We encourage Patty Hajdu to take her thumb off the scale and allow the workers and the employer to get back to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair collective agreement.”
Roughly 20 people from a number of different unions joined the rally.
“It just shows how important this cause is to the labour movement in general. When the government interferes with collective bargaining, it’s an issue that’s near and dear to all locals and all unions across the country,” he said. “We’re joined by a number of different locals here today, so it’s just great to see so much union solidarity.”
Carlos Santander-Maturana, president of the Thunder Bay and District Labour Council, said the demonstration was about defending more than just Air Canada employees.
“We are here to support the CUPE flight attendant workers who were forced to go back to work in spite of the fact that they had been on strike for only 24 hours,” Santander-Maturana said. “This is an attack on collective bargaining rights, and it’s incumbent upon all unions to start raising awareness with their memberships about the potential problems they could face in their own negotiations.”
The back-to-work order was in fact issued about 12 hours into the strike and lock out. The ongoing strike has since been deemed illegal.
Santander-Maturana added that the rally sent a clear message about unity in the face of government intervention. “We are all in this together, and solidarity is a very important component of the work that unions do.”
Government intervention is undermining workers’ rights, said Klassen. “It’s really important for the workers to be able to exercise their rights, including the right to strike.”
Klassen also pointed directly to Hajdu, who is the federal labour minister and represents Thunder Bay–Superior North. “Obviously, Patty Hajdu is playing a big role in the government right now with imposing Section 107 and everything else. I think she has an obligation to the residents and workers of this city to stand by and support local union workers.”
“It was a hard choice to refer the parties to the Board. But with our economy under attack, Canadians stranded across the globe and the two parties declaring an impasse, they need help to conclude that agreement," said Jennifer Kozelj a spokesperson for Hajdu's office, in a written statement to Newswatch.
"Nothing is stopping them from getting a deal together right now. Canadians are already navigating enough uncertainty, and counting on the parties to resolve their differences.”
On Monday afternoon, Hajdu also announced that she is ordering a probe into allegations of unpaid work in the airline sector.
More than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants walked off the job just before 1 a.m. Saturday resulting in cancelled flights nation-wide, including flights in and out of Thunder Bay.
This story has been updated with a statement from Hajdu's office.
