Flight attendants show the way!
The real battle has begun!

The Air Canada flight attendants are heroes of the entire working class: Hail their resolve to scrap Article 107 and reject Carney’s back-to-work order! Finally, a pack of determined trade-unionists are standing up to the endless strikebreaking of the Liberals, which had hit the port workers, rail workers and posties! This is a historic event that could turn the tide in favour of the unions after decades of setbacks.

But now the real battle begins—and the question is, will the union cave or stand strong? Strikers must be on their toes and not let themselves be fooled by backward steps or rotten compromises!

The Air Canada bosses were banking on the support of the government to end the strike with the binding arbitration of section 107 of the Labour Code—and they were not disappointed. Carney was banking on the union to heel to government orders and then take their grievances to the courts—a bankrupt path that saps labour’s power. But they gravely underestimated the determination of flight attendants, a predominantly female workforce, to defend their right to strike against the poverty wages and unpaid work with which they are saddled. Excellent—it’s time to send Lord Carney packing and back into his bank vault!

Now that the real battle has begun, the pressures on CUPE to capitulate will intensify. The bosses and the media will seek to pit passengers against striking workers. The government will wield “defense of the economy” and the “common good” of all Canadians to blackmail the union. More right-wing union leaders will put pressure on the CUPE leadership to capitulate. When these means of trying to impose “labour peace” don’t work, the union will likely be slapped with exorbitant fines and even threats of jailtime for its leaders. But flight attendants must not return to work without a contract!

To combat the headwinds ahead, the Air Canada flight attendants need the active solidarity of the entire union movement, from coast-to-coast and beyond. In the first instance, this means that the other thousands of unionized workers at the airports must honour the flight attendants’ picket lines! Strikers should also immediately call on members of other unions to mobilise and defend them against fines and other threats to themselves or their leaders. A successful defiance of section 107 by the flight attendants and their allies will be a giant win for the entire Canadian working class. Let’s win this one!