Winnipeg Air Canada flight attendants strike again despite mandate

Air Canada flight attendants in Winnipeg aren’t backing down, saying they’re holding the picket line until told otherwise by their bargaining committee.

A statement from the Air Canada component of CUPE reads in part:

“As of 14:00 edt on august 17th, 2025, the CIRB has ordered Air Canada to resume operations and for Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants to resume their duties.

CUPE national president Mark Hancock made it loud and clear that our members will not be returning to work until such time as the government orders Air Canada back to the bargaining table where we can reach a tentative agreement that our members can vote on.”

“These workers deserve a fair deal, it’s been over 10 years, they’ve taken pay cuts, they’ve given up vacations,” said Gina McKay, president of CUPE Manitoba. “These Manitoba workers pay themselves to get back to Manitoba.  We are here until a fair deal is reached.”

While frustrations can be felt on the picket line, the same can be said at the departure kiosks, where Air Canada customers whose flights have been cancelled, were desperately looking for answers.

“Frustrating, we all have stuff back home, we have stuff with our jobs, we have other stuff going on,” said John Boima, flight to New Jersey pushed back until August 22^nd.  “So, here now being rescheduled, it’s a lot of frustration, we can’t even book another flight because we didn’t have any idea coming here, we found out on the way, so yeah its pretty frustrating.”

“We already planned this trip over a year ago to Africa to see the animals, I can’t describe how I feel,” said Jessie Yang, paid double to re-book on WestJet for trip to Africa.

“Five (of my family members) have a VISA from USA, so we can go through USA, but two don’t have a VISA so they must stay here, and they said the nearest flight wont be possible until the 21^st,”said Filip Gozda, family members stuck in Winnipeg until august 21^st.

Air Canada plans to resume operations on Monday evening, however the union has made it clear: it will not comply with the order to return to work.

“The flight attendants are here on legal strike, we’re going to stay and hold this line as long as we possibly can, as long as we’re on legal strike we will be here until that deal is reached,” said McKay.