Chrysler Parent Stellantis Reaches Tentative Labor Contract With Canadian Autoworkers

Stellantis NV on Monday reached a tentative deal with Canadian autoworkers represented by Unifor on Monday after a mild eight-hour labor stoppage at the automaker's facilities.

Unifor, Canada's largest private-sector union, announced the deal between the automaker and more than 8,200 autoworkers at Stellantis's nine facilities in the country. Workers that assemble the Dodge Charger and Challenger, as well as the Chrysler Pacifica and Voyager minivans, had gone on strike at midnight.

"While brief, our strike action was an important act of solidarity and determination," Unifor leaders, including national president Lana Payne, said. The leadership added that the strike "demonstrated the strength of our union and provided your bargaining team with the means" to win a tentative agreement.

The union said the tentative pact meets both members' core demands as well as demands specific to Stellantis. Unifor had previously selected Ford Motor Co. as its target company and used negotiations with the automaker to set the "pattern" for its agreements with General Motors and Stellantis.

Although Ford emerged from bargaining unscathed by labor stoppages, GM — like Stellantis — suffered a mild 13-hour strike before agreeing to Unifor's demands.

While the exact details of Stellantis's agreement are unknown, it's expected to closely follow Ford's prior deal. The automaker's deal — which was approved by 54% of Canadian workers at Ford — provides general wage hikes of 15% for most workers over the length of the three-year contract, as well as raises for temporary workers and a slew of retirement and health benefits.

Additionally, the deal revised cost-of-living adjustments and granted full-time employees a $10,000 "productivity and quality bonus"; temporary part-timers received a smaller $4,000 bonus. Ford also agreed to cut the time it takes to earn the highest wage to four years from eight and some provisions related to the transition to electric vehicles.

Payne on Friday had told members that progress was slow and provided several obstacles that were still under negotiation, including anti-outsourcing measures for parts distribution centers and the extension of bargaining rights to workers at Stellantis's planned EV battery plant in Windsor, Ontario.

The NextStart Energy battery plant, a joint venture with LG Energy Solution, is expected to launch next year.

"I am very proud of the negotiating teams and thankful for their commitment and focused effort in reaching a tentative agreement with Unifor," Mark Stewart, Stellantis's chief operating officer for North America, said. "Once ratified, this agreement will reward our 8,000 represented employees and protect the long-term health of our Canadian operations."

The pending deal with automakers came just two days after Stellantis temporarily halted a six-week strike from the United Auto Workers with a tentative contract. The UAW's National Stellantis Council will vote on Thursday on whether to send the deal to the 43,000 union members employed by the automaker for a ratification vote.

Stellantis has agreed to give American autoworkers a general pay raise of 25% over the course of the four-year contract and a stronger cost-of-living adjustment formula — which will increase those raises to more than 30%. Temporary workers will receive raises of up to 168% during the life of the contract and all of those employees will become full-time employees within 90 days of ratification.