MONTREAL, May 31 (Reuters) - Striking Montreal-area

Safran workers who make components for landing gear

used in Airbus and Boeing ( BA ) jets have made a

counter offer that could avert a longer dispute, a union

official told Reuters on Friday.

Workers who produce forgings for the landing gear used in

aircraft like Airbus's A320 family and A350 jets, along with

Boeing's ( BA ) 787, began a seven-day strike on Tuesday and are ready

to walk off the job indefinitely if they don't reach a deal,

union local president Michael Durand said.

Unions have recently capitalized on tight labor markets and

high inflation to win hefty contracts at the bargaining table

across North America, with airline pilots, autoworkers and

others scoring big raises in 2023.

The strike comes as Airbus, the world's largest planemaker,

is facing new output pressure, Reuters reported earlier on

Friday, as it struggles to overcome parts and labor shortages to

build more aircraft to meet airline demand.

Boeing ( BA ), which is wrestling with a manufacturing crisis

following a January mid-flight panel blowout on a near new 737

MAX jet, recently said it has reduced output of its 787 due to

supplier shortages.

Durand said a short-term strike would likely not impact

production of Airbus's strongest-selling A320, but "if this goes

on for more than two weeks, Airbus will be making calls."

Boeing ( BA ) and Airbus both deferred questions about the labor

dispute to Safran, which was not immediately available for

comment.

The union has previously asked for an estimated 22% raise

over three years for Safran's 130 workers, after their latest

six-year contract ended in December 2023 with an 8.6% salary

hike.

Safran has offered a 14% raise over three years, he said.

"We need to catch up on salary," said Durand of the

Confederation des syndicats nationaux union.