*

Air Canada ( ACDVF ), union holding discussions with mediator, union

says

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Government minister to probe allegations of unpaid work

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Union seeks pay for ground duties, similar to some US

airlines

(Recasts with Air Canada ( ACDVF ), union in talks)

By Allison Lampert

MONTREAL, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Air Canada ( ACDVF ) and the

union representing 10,000 striking flight attendants will hold

discussions on Monday night with a mediator, the union said in a

statement.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents

the flight attendants, had remained on strike even after the

Canada Industrial Relations Board declared its action unlawful.

Air Canada's ( ACDVF ) unionized flight attendants walked off the job on

Saturday after contract talks with the carrier failed, in a move

that disrupted travel plans for hundreds of thousands of

passengers.

The union is currently in meetings with Air Canada ( ACDVF ), with the

assistance of mediator William Kaplan, in Toronto, CUPE said in

a statement on Facebook. The strike is still on, it said.

The two sides had not spoken since before the start of the

strike.

Earlier, Reuters exclusively reported the two sides were

holding talks. A source said there are discussions being held on

whether to hold mediation, but with the condition that the

flight attendants return to work.

Canadian Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu urged both parties to

return to the negotiating table and reach a collective agreement

for workers as soon as possible.

Air Canada ( ACDVF ) CEO Mike Rousseau on Monday defended the

airline's offer of a 38% boost in compensation to striking

flight attendants but said there was a big gap compared with the

union's demand and did not offer a path to return to

negotiations.

Hours later, jobs minister Hajdu raised pressure on Air

Canada ( ACDVF ), saying she was launching a probe into airline pay and

that a negotiated agreement between workers and the company

would produce "the best deal."

Hajdu and Rousseau's comments followed the union's refusal of a

federal labor board's order to return to work. That refusal has

created a three-way standoff between the company, workers and

the government, and raised the stakes in a dispute that has

disrupted flights for hundreds of thousands of travelers during

tourist season.

Flight attendants want higher wages and to be paid for time

spent boarding passengers and other duties on the ground. They

currently are not paid specifically for such work, and Hajdu in

her comments on X voiced surprise at what she called allegations

of unpaid work at the airline, which for months has been in

on-and-off contract talks that prominently included the ground

pay demands.

"I've ordered a probe into the allegation of unpaid work in

the airline sector," said Hajdu, who on the weekend kicked off

the effort to force binding arbitration that would end the

strike, contrary to union wishes.