by Jen Mallia
Last updated: 10:30 AM ET, Tue September 16, 2025
Following the strike by Air Canada flight attendants in August, the federal government announced its intention to look into unpaid labour in the airline industry. On Monday, Sept, 15,
Employment and Social Development Canada stated it would be holding roundtable discussions with industry stakeholders later this month and in early October, with a feedback deadline of Oct. 17.
Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said she anticipates the results of this probe to be ready in December. “All this information will be collected and disseminated in a report that will be publicly available by early December, and then we’ll be able to take appropriate action,” Hajdu told The Canadian Press in an interview.
The minister has said this process could result in new legislation to close gaps in the labour code, according to a report by CBC News. She said Ottawa wants to be "very careful" about its next steps, ensuring "we uphold the right for members and employers to bargain the terms of work and the conditions of work, as they see fit," Hajdu said.
Hajdu ordered the striking union members back to work in August invoking Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, instructing the Canada Industrial Relations Board to intervene, a move that was criticized as curtailing the bargaining process.
The resulting mediation saw flight attendants gaining some strides, with a new contract where flight attendants will receive half their hourly wage rate for 60 minutes of ground time on narrow-body aircraft and 70 minutes on wide-body planes. That will rise to 60 percent of the hourly wage rate next April, 65 per cent in 2027 and 70 per cent in 2028.
"We also know that Canadians, rightfully so, can't stand for unpaid work, and so we need to get to the bottom of it." said Hajdu.
Still at issue is flight attendant wages. A vote by members soundly rejected the wages proposed in the mediated contract. On Friday, CUPE rejected going back to mediation and requested the contract proceed directly to an arbitrated deal, a step Air Canada agreed to, according to a statement issued by the airline.
A rally against unpaid work and unfair wages is scheduled today at Parliament Hill.
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