Solidarity with flight attendants, Repeal Section 107

Once again, the Liberal federal government is directly intervening in the collective bargaining process by using the anti-working class powers of Labour Code Section 107. As seen in a series of recent labour disputes under federal jurisdiction, Section 107 is a powerful tool for the government to hamper the ability of workers to engage in effective strike action.

In the current dispute between Air Canada and its 10,000 flight attendants, the Central Executive of the Communist Party of Canada expresses our full solidarity with the FAs, whose demands include full pay for an average of 35 hours unpaid work per month before and after flights.

(With the 8% increase offered by Air Canada, junior FAs would go to $2108 per month, far below the federal minimum wage of $2840 per month. Over the term of the past ten-year Collective Agreement, the real wages of attendants were 9% below inflation. Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau made $12.4 million in 2023-24, including $1.3 million base pay plus stocks and options.)

We condemn the back to work order issued by the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), at the directive of PM Mark Carney and the Labour Minister, after the flight attendants exercised their legal rights to walk off the job on August 16. The threat to fine or jail striking members and leaders of the Canadian Union of Public Employees is a direct attempt to limit free collective bargaining and union membership in Canada. We call on the entire labour movement and all supporters of working class rights to support the picket lines and fight back against this corporate-government attack.

The Carney government already has a consistent record of pro-corporate policies, such as massive social spending cuts to pay for a huge imperialist war preparations. This struggle further exposes the government’s phony claim to govern on behalf of all Canadians.
The full sequence of events – from Air Canada refusing to bargain in good faith on the legitimate demands of the union, to the company’s lockout threat last week, and then the back-to-work order – prove that management was confident that the Liberals would back the corporation’s strategy against its workforce.

Section 107, giving the Labour Minister the authority to direct the CIRB to intervene “when deemed necessary” to end disputes and refer issues to binding arbitration, has been part of the Labour Code since 1984. It was first used in 2011 after Air Canada flight attendants twice voted down collective agreements. Now, over the past two years, the Liberals have used Section 107 to block labour action by railway workers, then by port workers in Vancouver, Quebec, and Montreal, and late last year to end a lengthy strike action by Canada Post workers.

As the labour movement warns, Section 107 is a powerful incentive for employers to refuse to bargain constructively, instead waiting for pro-corporate governments to step in without bringing back-to-work legislation for debate and votes Parliament. Section 107 must be repealed as part of broader efforts to defend and expand the labour rights of all workers in Canada to join trade unions and engage in free collective bargaining.

The Communist Party also calls for renationalization of Air Canada, which was privatized under the Mulroney Conservatives, and for repeal of the so-called “Open Skies” policy adopted by the same government, with the aim of boosting airline profits through deregulation and other pro-corporate measures.

Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada