Air Canada union defies federal order to end strike

Air Canada said it suspended plans to restart operations Sunday after the union representing 10,000 flight attendants said it would defy a return-to-work order.

- By Ros GILLIES

ETHAN CAIRNS Canadian Press AIR CANADA employees picket outside Vancouver International Airport.

The strike was already affecting about 130,000 travelers around the world per day during the peak summer travel season.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered airline staffers back to work by 2 p.m. Sunday after the government intervened, and Air Canada said it planned to resume flights Sunday evening.

Canada’s largest airline now says it will resume flights Monday evening. Air Canada said in a statement that the union “illegally directed its flight attendant members to defy a direction from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board.”

“Our members are not going back to work,” Canadian Union of Public Employees national President Mark Hancock said outside Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. “We are saying no.”