Ford avoids Canadian auto strike with Unifor union deal

Detroit – Ford Automakers and Canadian union Unifor announced a tentative deal covering 5,600 autoworkers in Ontario on Tuesday night, averting a strike by workers on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border.

The Detroit automaker and the union announced the agreement hours before Tuesday’s extended deadline of 11:59 p.m., which still must be approved by members. After Ford made a last-minute offer to Unifor on Monday night, the two sides extended negotiations for 24 hours.

Canada’s tentative deal comes on the fifth day of a targeted strike by the United Auto Workers union at Ford and its crosstown rivals. General Motors and Chrysler parent company star.

The Unifor strike will affect Ford’s Oakville Assembly Plant, which makes the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus crossovers, as well as two engine plants that make V8 engines used in key products such as the Ford F-Series pickup truck and the Mustang muscle car.

Ford and Unifor declined to immediately release details of the agreement, which the union’s national president, Lana Payne, said “addresses all the issues members have raised in preparation for this round of collective bargaining.”

“We believe this agreement will solidify the foundation on which we continue to bargain for generations of Canadian autoworkers,” she said. in a statement Tuesday night.

Unifor, which represents 18,000 Canadian workers at the Detroit automaker, has taken a more traditional approach to negotiations than its U.S. peers. The Canadian union chose Ford as its “target” company rather than follow the United Auto Workers’ new strategy of bargaining with all three automakers. It has also announced a traditional nationwide strike, if needed, rather than targeted strikes.

The union is expected to release details of the agreement to members in the coming days, followed by a vote. If approved, the deal would serve as a model for Unifor’s bargaining with General Motors and Stellantis.

Ford will now focus on negotiations with the United Auto Workers union. The union will announce more strikes at U.S. plants if Detroit automakers don’t make “significant progress” in talks by noon ET on Friday, union president Sean Fein said Monday.

Currently, about 12,700 UAW workers are on strike at GM’s mid-size truck and full-size van plant in Wentzville, Missouri; Ford’s Ranger mid-size pickup and Bronco SUV plant in Wayne, Miss.; and Stellantis’ plant in Tolay, Ohio. Lots of factory Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators.