Toronto, Canada - August 11, 2025 Flight attendants for Air Canada staged a protest outside Toronto Pearson Airport Terminal 1, calling for fair wages and an end to unpaid work. The demonstration, captured on video by RealityDocu, showed attendants holding signs reading “Poverty Wages = UnCanadian” and “UnfAir Canada” as they lined up outside the departures area. This protest is part of a broader labor dispute. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents over 10,000 flight attendants, issued a 72-hour strike notice set to begin August 16, 2025, after wage negotiations and compensation discussions for hours worked outside flight time stalled. In response, Air Canada issued a lockout notice and started canceling flights, impacting roughly 130,000 customers daily as part of a contingency plan to wind down operations. The dispute reflects a growing trend in North America where flight attendants push for pay covering all hours worked, including boarding and waiting periods, following similar gains by U.S. carriers. The looming strike during peak travel season has led Air Canada to seek government intervention for binding arbitration, which the union opposes, putting pressure on the Canadian government under Prime Minister Mark Carney.