More than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants will continue their strike despite back-to-work orders from the Canadian government, the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees said Sunday.

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.

By Allison Lampert (Reuters) -Air Canada and its union representing 10,000 flight attendants are holding discussions on Monday night with a mediator, a source familiar with the matter said. The Canadian Union of Public Employees,