A little more than a day after the UAW announced a deal on a new proposed labor contract with Stellantis, ending a strike against the automaker in the United States, the union representing Canadian autoworkers launched its own strike against the company.
Shortly after a strike deadline of 11:59 p.m. Sunday passed, Unifor released a statement highlighting its actions:
"Unifor has commenced strike action by more than 8,200 members at Stellantis facilities. Progress has been made and negotiations will continue through the night."
Stellantis spokeswoman LouAnn Gosselin provided a response from the company:
"We are extremely disappointed. We will continue to bargain in good faith until an agreement is reached. We look forward to getting everyone back to work as soon as possible."
Stellantis was the last of the Detroit Three automakers involved in negotiations with Unifor this year. Ford and General Motors had already secured agreements with the union, although the agreement with GM didn't happen until after a 12-hour strike.
Before launching contract talks Oct. 18 with Stellantis, owner of the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands, Unifor noted in a news release that its negotiations with the company would follow the pattern agreements set at the other automakers. Some of the highlights from those agreements include wage increases, reactivation of cost-of-living adjustments, conversion of temporary workers to permanent employees and pension gains.
Stellantis has the largest Unifor-represented workforce of the Detroit Three automakers.
While Canadian autoworkers begin their strike against the company, United Auto Workers union members who had been on strike against Stellantis will be returning to work following the announcement Saturday of a tentative agreement in the United States.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Unifor launches strike against Stellantis