Government Forces Strikers, Air Canada Into Arbitration

The Canadian government forced Air Canada and its striking flight attendants back to work and into arbitration on Saturday, after the airline had suspended all operations earlier in the day. More than 10,000 members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees struck after a deadline to reach a deal on a contract passed, leaving travelers around the world stranded and scrambling during the peak summer travel season. The government's action means the flight attendants will return to work soon, the AP reports, though full resumption of services could take days. "The talks broke down. It is clear that the parties are not any closer to resolving some of the key issues that remain and they will need help with the arbitrator," Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said. The situation:

• The union had turned down the request by Canada's biggest airline to enter into government-directed arbitration, which would eliminate its right to strike and allow a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract. The two parties have been in contract talks for about eight months. Both sides say they remain far apart on the issues of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes aren't in the air.
• Flight attendants walked off the job around 1am ET Saturday. Around the same time, Air Canada said it would begin locking flight attendants out of airports. Hajdu met with both the airline and union on Friday night and urged them to work harder to reach a deal. "It is unacceptable that such little progress has been made," Hajdu said in a statement.
• Air Canada COO Mark Nasr has said it could take up to a week to fully restart operations after the stoppage.
• Ian Lee, an associate business professor at Carleton University, had noted that the government intervened in transportation strikes 45 times since 1950. "It is all because of the incredible dependency of Canadians," Lee said. Canada is the second-largest country in the world, and flying is often the only viable way to move about it.

• A shutdown is estimated to affect about 130,000 people a day and strand some 25,000 Canadians a day abroad. Passengers whose travel is impacted will be eligible to request a full refund on the airline's website or mobile app, per Air Canada. The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options through other Canadian and foreign airlines when possible, but it warned it couldn't guarantee immediate rebooking because flights on other airlines are already full "due to the summer travel peak."
• Montreal resident Alex Laroche, 21, and his girlfriend had been saving since Christmas for their European vacation. Now their $8,000 trip with nonrefundable lodging is on the line as they wait to hear from Air Canada about their Saturday night flight to Nice, France. Laroche said he considered booking new flights with a different carrier, but he said most of them are nearly full and cost more than double the $3,000 they paid for their original tickets. "At this point, it's just a waiting game," he said.