Unifor national president Lana Payne leads the way toward a meeting with Stellantis as part of the auto talks in Toronto on Thursday, Aug.10, 2023. (Photo: Canadian Press)

By Canadian Press

Unifor reaches tentative contract agreement with Stellantis, ending brief strike

Oct 30, 2023 | 8:09 AM

OTTAWA, ON – Unifor announced Monday it has reached a tentative deal with Stellantis, ending a brief strike at the automaker.

More than 8,200 workers represented by Unifor had walked off the job at Stellantis facilities in Canada after the two sides failed to reach a deal by a Sunday deadline, however the union and the company continued to negotiate through the night.

The union said that while the strike was brief, it was an “important act of solidarity and determination.”

“It demonstrated the strength of our union and provided your bargaining team with the means to achieve a tentative agreement that meets both the core economic demands in the union’s pattern agreement and our Stellantis specific demands,” Unifor national president Lana Payne, Stellantis master bargaining chairperson James Stewart and Vito Beato, Stellantis master bargaining acting vice-chairperson, said in statement.

The deal with the automaker behind such brands as Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep comes after Unifor reached earlier agreements with Ford Motor Co. and General Motors. A strike by Unifor at GM also lasted less than a day.

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Stellantis North America chief operating officer Mark Stewart said he was proud of the negotiating teams and thankful for their commitment.

“Once ratified, this agreement will reward our 8,000 represented employees and protect the long-term health of our Canadian operations,” Stewart said in a statement.

Details of the Stellantis agreement were not immediately available, but Unifor had been seeking the automaker to agree to the same core economic terms the union reached with the other big companies.

The union said last week it was also working on specifics from Stellantis on its electric vehicle plans for its Canadian plants.

Union members at Ford and GM ratified deals that will see workers get close to 20 per cent wage gains over three years, among numerous other improvements.

In the U.S., Stellantis had seen escalating strikes over the past six weeks from United Auto Workers members at its operations there, but the company reached a tentative deal with the union as of Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2023.

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