Canadian Safran strikers make new offer to avoid long strike, union says

MONTREAL (Reuters) – Striking Safran workers in the Montreal area who make components for landing gear used in Airbus and Boeing planes have made a counter-offer that could avoid a longer dispute, said on Friday a union official at Reuters.

Workers who produce forgings for landing gear used in planes like Airbus’ A320 family and A350s, as well as Boeing’s 787s, began a seven-day strike on Tuesday and are ready to walk off their jobs for an indefinite period if they cannot reach an agreement, said union local president Michael Durand.

Unions have recently taken advantage of labor market tensions and high inflation to win major contracts at the bargaining table across North America, with airline pilots, auto workers and others securing big increases in 2023.

The strike comes as Airbus, the world’s largest planemaker, faces new pressure on its production, Reuters reported on Friday, as it struggles to overcome shortages of parts and labor to build more of planes in order to meet the demand of airlines.

Boeing, which is grappling with a manufacturing crisis following a mid-flight panel explosion in January on a nearly new 737 MAX plane, recently announced that it had cut production of its 787 due to supplier shortages.

Durand said a short-term strike would likely not impact production of Airbus’ best-selling A320, but “if it lasts more than two weeks, Airbus will make calls.”

Boeing and Airbus both referred questions about the labor dispute to Safran, which was not immediately available for comment.

The union had previously requested an estimated increase of 22% over three years for Safran’s 130 employees, after their last six-year contract ended in December 2023 with a salary increase of 8.6%.

Safran proposed an increase of 14% over three years, he said.

“We have to catch up on the salary front,” said Durand, of the Confederation of National Trade Unions.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal; editing by Bill Berkrot)