Air Canada flight attendants scored a big win. Don’t expect the same for other unions

A passenger walks past striking Air Canada flight attendants as they defy a back-to-work order at Vancouver International Airport on Monday.

Last Sunday night, dozens of union heads convened at a hotel in downtown Toronto to declare their opposition to the federal government’s repeated use of Section 107 – a clause in the Canada Labour Code that gives Ottawa unilateral power to end strikes.

The Canada Labour Congress, which represents both public- and private-sector unions, organized the emergency session because of Ottawa’s decree to get striking Air Canada AC-T flight attendants back on the job, and their union’s subsequent decision to defy the order and continue striking illegally.

Within hours, major unions released a joint statement calling on the government to remove Section 1