Air Canada union says right to strike on the line as it defies back

TORONTO — A shutdown of Air Canada by flight attendants over wages and unpaid work has rapidly escalated into a fight for the right to strike as union leaders said Monday they’ll push despite orders to stop, while the airline said it hoped workers will soon comply.

The rising stakes of the impasse have left hundreds of thousands of travellers in limbo as timelines for a restart keep shifting.

Flight attendants were first ordered by the Canada Industrial Relations Board to return to work Sunday, after the federal government used Section 107 of the Labour Code to force the two sides into binding arbitration.

Union officials defied that order, leading the board to conclude Monday morning that the strike was unlawful as it ordered the union to stand down and publicly tell its members to do