(Reuters) -Canadian labor union Unifor said early on Monday it has commenced strikes at all Stellantis facilities in the country, with more than 8,200 members staging a walkout after failing to reach a tentative agreement before the deadline.
“We have made progress and we will continue to negotiate through the night,” Unifor said in a statement.
Stellantis did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the talks.
In the United States, Chrysler-parent Stellantis and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract on Saturday.
Unifor’s talks in Canada are separate from the UAW union’s coordinated action in the U.S.
Unifor, which represents about 18,000 workers at the Canadian facilities of the Detroit Three automakers, had sought higher wages and pensions.
The union used the “pattern bargaining” approach in its talks with the automakers in Canada, reaching a deal first with Ford and General Motors, after picking them as its first and second bargaining targets, respectively.
The union has ratified its deals with Ford and GM.
Stellantis assembles some of its popular vehicles including the Dodge Charger, Challenger and the Chrysler Pacifica minivan in its Canadian plants.
The Canadian operations of the Detroit Three are much smaller than their U.S. setups, but the three automakers each have critical factories in Canada.
(Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
