MONTREAL — The president of Bombardier Inc.’s aerospace division and a powerful union group will meet soon to seek an end to a two-week strike over wages at the plane maker’s Montreal plants, a wire service reported.
The president of the Quebec Workers Federation, Henri Masse, asked for the meeting with Bombardier Aerospace President Pierre Beaudoin, Bombardier spokesman John Paul Macdonald told Reuters.
“We are open to such a meeting,” Macdonald said.
“We are in the process of trying to set up a time as soon as possible. It could be tomorrow morning.”
Some 7,500 workers at Bombardier, the world’s third-largest civil aircraft maker and the No. 1 fabricator of passenger trains, have been on strike since April 15 over higher wages and better pension benefits. The strike has idled Bombardier’s three Montreal plants, paralyzing production of its Canadair Regional Jets of 50, 70 and 90 seats.
On Friday, Bombardier broke off just-resumed talks with the union.
“Late Thursday, they presented to us totally unrealistic new demands, which is why we left the negotiating table on Friday,” Macdonald said.
The workers’ federation, one of two big union groups in Quebec, said it hopes a meeting with Beaudoin will bring a quick resolution of the contract talks impasse. The machinists union is part of the federation.
“It is not to negotiate directly with the president of Bombardier (Aerospace), but to put negotiations back on the rails in view of the impasse reached during conciliation,” the workers’ federation’s Masse said in a statement.
“The two sides have an interest in making an effort so that the conflict does not drag on,” he added.
A Quebec government-appointed conciliator remains involved in the talks.
Macdonald declined to indicate to what extent the strike could hurt Bombardier’s jet deliveries, revenues and profits.
“It’s very serious for us. What is important is to keep communication open with our customers,” he said.
“Those that are probably pleased to see this turn of events is our competition.”
Bombardier’s chief rival in the regional jet market, where it remains marker leader, is Brazil’s Embraer SA . The two companies are at the center of a trade dispute involving financing packages their respective countries offer their prospective customers to facilitate plane sales.
Bombardier has offered its Montreal aerospace workers a wage hike of 3.25 percent in each year of a four-year deal and a signing bonus of C$1,000 ($640). The company said the union’s new demands are for an annual salary increase of 4.25 percent in each year of a four-year contract, plus the C$1,000 signing bonus.
Since the strike began following the workers’ 60-percent vote against the company’s offer, Bombardier has insisted that it will not revise its wage and pension proposal.
Bombardier’s class B shares slipped 1 Canadian cent to C$13.33 in Toronto on Monday.
The stock has lost 9 percent of its value since the start of the strike. Investors fear a prolonged strike could hurt Bombardier plane deliveries and profit, but most analysts have said they expect the strike to be resolved soon.