The Canadian Union of Public Employees' (CUPE) refusal to follow a federal labor board order for the flight attendants to return to work has created a three-way standoff between the company, workers, and the government. It has also raised the stakes in a dispute that is now closely watched by other labor groups.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board had declared the strike illegal earlier on Monday and ordered the striking flight attendants back on the job. But the union said it will defy this second return to work order, after an earlier one had been ignored. The earlier one also ordered the union to submit to arbitration.