Canadian union Unifor ends strike after tentative deal with Stellantis

Canadian labor union Unifor called off a brief strike that began early on Monday after reaching a tentative agreement with Stellantis over a new labor contract covering more than 8,200 workers.

The union had commenced strikes at all Stellantis facilities in the country as talks over a new deal hit a roadblock despite the expiration of a strike deadline on Sunday midnight.

A prolonged strike would have hit the production of some of the popular vehicles such as the Dodge Charger and Challenger, which are manufactured in its Brampton assembly plant.

North American union workers are seeking higher wages, better work-life balance and job upgrades. Unifor’s bargaining team had prioritized discussions around support for its workers in the electric vehicle transition at the plant in Brampton.

“A tentative agreement has been reached with Stellantis ending strike action at all Unifor facilities,” Unifor said in an email statement, without disclosing any more details. Stellantis was not immediately available for a comment.

Unifor’s talks in Canada are separate from the United Auto Workers (UAW) union’s negotiations in the United States. The UAW and Stellantis reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract on Saturday.

Unifor used the “pattern bargaining” approach in its talks with the automakers in Canada and reached ratified deals first with Ford and then General Motors.

The deal with GM was reached shortly after 4,300 workers went on strike at three GM facilities in Canada, while the deal with Ford came ahead of a threatened strike.

The Canadian operations of the “Detroit Three” are much smaller than their U.S. setups, but all have critical factories in Canada.

(Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Edwina Gibbs and Arun Koyyur)