OTTAWA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Canadian federal government has ordered binding arbitration to end a strike by around 10,000 flight attendants of Air Canada, which began early Saturday.

Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu issued a statement saying that she exercised her authorities under section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to direct the Canada Industrial Relations Board to arbitrate the dispute between Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

"The enormous impact of a nationwide labour disruption of this scale is already being felt by Canadians and visitors to our country. This impact will grow significantly with a prolonged dispute," read the statement. "In a year in which Canadian families and businesses have already experienced too much disruption and uncertainty, this is not the time to add additional challenges and disruptions to their lives and our economy."

The minister has asked the Board to assist the parties in reaching a settlement of the outstanding terms of their collective agreement by imposing final and binding arbitration and to extend the terms of the existing collective agreement until a new one is determined by the arbitrator, the statement added.

The minister said that this decision will protect hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors from being affected by canceled flights. It will also ensure that shipments of critical goods such as pharmaceuticals and organ tissue, over 40 percent of which are moved by Air Canada, continue to reach their destinations.

Air Canada said that the strike led by CUPE officially began at 12:58 a.m. local time (0458 GMT) on Saturday and approximately 130,000 customers will be impacted each day that the strike continues. The airline also confirmed that a lockout of these flight attendants has begun to prevent the employees from working during the standoff.

It is not yet clear when the flight attendants will return to work. According to local media, it would take about a week for the airline to resume global operations after instituting a full shutdown.

Despite eight months of negotiations on issues of compensation increase, ground pay, improved pensions and benefits, and increased crew rest, Air Canada has been unable to reach a tentative agreement with CUPE. ■