Landing Gear Production for Boeing, Airbus Held Up Amid Labor Dispute

Safran SA workers at the Mirabel, Quebec factory began their picket this week, surrounding the factory as the non-strikers kept up the routine of a normal workday.

A 5-week-long strike by employees at Safran's Montreal the landing gear production line has really bit into production for their clientele at home and abroad, leaving Airbus and Boeing high and dry until the dispute is resolved. It's just another data point in the cluster of strike activity going on up North, where inflation has bit into worker's wallets without many raises to alleviate the pain. Workers are hoping to get a 22% pay raise from the company, higher than Safran's offer of 14.5% over a 3-year period. Local union president Michael Durand said they've been up front about what they wanted since the beginning, and have now asked the Quebecois labor ministry to inspect the plant for the use of non-managers and non-unionized workers to manufacture parts. Under their current laws, managers can continue to work through a strike, though changing legislation should make that harder going forward.

Durand told local journos that Safran's line completes about 10 to 14 landing gear assemblies each week, completing units for the Airbus A320 family. The strike is bad news for Airbus, who probably hoped to gain some ground on rival Boeing as they're mired in quality control issues and certification woes. Now, another supply chain hiccup comes out of left field to slow things to a crawl.

The Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux is another composite union in Canada, representing about 320,000 workers across 2,000 constituent unions. Each is grouped on a sectoral or professional basis into one of 8 federations, with the 'Federation of Industry and Manufacturing' boasting more than 20,500 members. In early June, 130 workers at the Safran facility announced they would engage in an 'unlimited strike', setting the stage for the standoff they enjoy today. So far, both Safran and the union have yet to reach an accord, but things tend to move just a little bit quicker when production's stopped up.

FMI: www.safran-group.com