When Back To Work Orders Fail: Lessons From Air Canada For U.S. Labor Policy

By David Schwartz

In August 2025, 99.7% of Air Canada flight attendants agreed to strike, triggering what quickly became one of the most visible labor disputes in North America.[1] Within hours, the government declared the strike unlawful and issued a back‑to‑work order.[2] On paper, this should have ended the disruption. In practice, it did not. Thousands of flight attendants, organized under the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), defied the order and continued protesting.[3] CUPE believed the process was unfair, claiming the airline refused to bargain fairly knowing the government would intervene to preserve operations.[4] The strike paralyzed operations at Canada’s largest airline and frustrated the travel plans of hundreds of thousands.[5] The government’s legal authority collided with overwhelming worker solidarity, resulting in a standoff that underscored the limits of ‘command‑and‑control’ labor law.

The Canadian experience resonates strongly with U.S. labor law.  In the United States, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects the right to strike as a core element of “concerted activity,” meaning employee action taken together to improve terms and conditions of employment.[6] In fact, it explicitly states that “nothing shall interfere with or diminish the right to strike.”[7] Yet the right is not absolute, as the Supreme Court held in NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp., certain strikes, such as intermittent strikes, sit down strikes, or those in violation of no strike clauses, may be deemed unprotected.[8] In industries affecting interstate commerce and transportation, the Railway Labor Act (RLA) imposes strict limits, requiring mediation and cooling‑off periods before workers can lawfully strike.[9] Furthermore, under the Taft‑Hartley Act of 1947, the President may seek an injunction to halt a strike for up to 80 days if it is deemed to imperil national health or safety.[10] These provisions function much like Canada’s back‑to‑work orders, designed to prioritize continuity of essential services over workers’ bargaining leverage.

This tension, of legal authority versus worker solidarity, appeared recently in the United States during the 2022 rail labor dispute.  In late 2022, after years of bargaining under the RLA, twelve unions representing more than 100,000 rail workers threatened to strike over scheduling and the absence of paid sick-leave.[11] Although a tentative agreement was brokered by the White House, a majority of rank‑and‑file members rejected it.[12] As the strike deadline approached, President Biden asked Congress to intervene and force the union to accept the deal  and avert a potential shutdown.[13] While the intervention averted a strike that could have cost the U.S. economy $2 billion per day, it also fueled anger among workers, who felt their democratic right to strike had been overridden.[14] Additionally, in December of 2005, members of Transport Workers Union Local 100, a powerful union representing New York City transit workers, walked off the job in protest over a breakdown in negotiations with the MTA, halting the New York public transportation system during the busy holiday season.[15] Despite threats of jail time to the union leader and hefty fines of one million dollars a day, the strike lasted three days, frustrating the thousands of New Yorkers who rely on public transportation in their daily lives.[16]

The lesson is clear, back‑to‑work orders reflect an older model of labor relations in which government commands were assumed final. Today, however, legitimacy matters as much as legality. Public trust in government is low, and heavy‑handed interventions risk prolonging disputes and eroding worker, and public confidence.[17] Embedding alternative dispute resolution and interest‑based bargaining into statutory frameworks can reduce reliance on coercive remedies by creating joint problem‑solving structures, improving communication, and producing durable, mutually acceptable outcomes.[18] Where statutory intervention remains necessary, lawmakers should pair it with mandatory ADR pathways and meaningful procedural safeguards so imposed settlements are perceived as fair and enforceable rather than merely authoritative. For governments, unions, and employers alike, the future of labor relations lies in collaboration, not command.

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[1] See Alexandra Mae Jones, Air Canada Flight Attendants Vote to Strike if Agreement Not Reached, Union Says, CBC News (Aug. 8, 2025), https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-canada-strike-vote-1.7601893 [https://perma.cc/CQU6-JR2L].

[2] Global News Staff, Air Canada Cancels Plans to Resume Flights Sunday as Union Defies Back-to-Work Order, Global News (Aug. 17, 2025, at 13:42 ET), https://globalnews.ca/news/11338453/air-canada-flight-attendants-2/ [https://perma.cc/ZCN5-ANW3]. 

[3] See id.

[4] Id.

[5] Nathan Gomes et al., Air Canada Strike Ends but Travel Disruptions May Last a Week, USA Today (Aug. 19, 2025, at 8:26 ET), https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2025/08/19/air-canada-strike-flight-cancellations/85721244007/ [https://perma.cc/7NB4-CSYQ].

[6] 29 U.S.C. § 157 (2023).

[7] Id. § 163.

[8] NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp., 306 U.S. 240, 252 (1939).

[9] Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. §§ 151–188 (2023).

[10] Taft‑Hartley Act, 29 U.S.C. § 178 (2023).

[11] Dave Jamieson, A Massive Rail Strike Looms as Unions Fight for Sick Leave, HuffPost (Sep. 15, 2022), https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rail-strike-unions-sick-leave_n_63226ffbe4b0eac9f4de07dd [https://perma.cc/P73Q-JTPE].

[12] Max Zahn, Rejected Contracts, White House Involvement: A Timeline of a Potential Rail Strike, ABC News (Nov. 29, 2022, at 14:29 ET), https://abcnews.go.com/Business/rejected-contracts-white-house-involvement-timeline-potential-rail/story?id=94145132 [https://perma.cc/SR8S-HY3F].

[13] Id.

[14] Karl Evers-Hillstrom, Rail Workers Warn of Exodus After Congress Forces Through Deal, The Hill (Dec. 6, 2022, at 6:00 ET), https://thehill.com/lobbying/3762605-no-paid-sick-leave-could-spur-rail-worker-exodus-that-ripples-across-economy/ [https://perma.cc/P2XF-QPRN].

[15] Josh Getlin, ‘Illegal’ Transit Strike Puts New Yorkers Out in the Cold, L.A. Times (Dec. 21, 2005, at 12:00 PT), https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-dec-21-na-strike21-story.html [https://perma.cc/UF9Y-MQPY].

[16] See Milt Neidenberg, Transit Workers End Strike, Workers World (Dec. 22, 2005, at 23:15 ET), https://www.workers.org/2005/us/twu-dec22-update/ [https://perma.cc/T38E-Q87R].

[17] Public Trust in Government: 1958–2024, Pew Rsch. Ctr. (June 24, 2024), https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/06/24/public-trust-in-government-1958-2024/ [https://perma.cc/R6BV-84TD] (documenting historically low levels of public trust in government).

[18] See Interest‑Based Bargaining: Joint Problem‑Solving for Mutual Gain, Fed. Mediation & Conciliation Serv. (Mar. 2019), https://www.fmcs.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Interest-Based-Bargaining.pdf [https://perma.cc/NA8K-DS2N] (describing interest-based bargaining as a collaborative, joint problem‑solving process).