Ford managed to stave off a strike by auto workers in Canada after agreeing to a tentative deal with Canadian labor union Unifor on Tuesday night, a move that prevents the automaker from facing labor strikes on both sides of the border.
In an emailed statement, Unifor said the tentative agreement covers 5,600 in Canada’s Ontario and Alberta provinces.
The tentative deal was announced just hours before an extended negotiation deadline of 11.59 p.m. ET was set to expire—following a 24 hour extension on Monday night.
Unifor said that the details of the agreement will be first shared with the union’s members “in ratification meetings to be held in the near future.”
Unifor’s Ford Master Bargaining Chair John D’Agnolo hailed the agreement, saying it will add “greater financial security for the future” for the union’s members.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
According to CBC News, if the deal is ratified, it could provide a blueprint for striking similar agreements for thousands of other Canadian workers employed by the two other major U.S. automakers, General Motors and Chrysler’s parent Stellantis.
BIG NUMBER
$10 million. That is the estimated amount that Ford would have lost per day if the Canadian strike went forward and dried up the company’s supply lines.
KEY BACKGROUND
Ford’s Canadian labor deal comes on the backdrop of a ongoing strike by the United Auto Workers against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis in the U.S. The UAW’s strike began after the union and the automakers failed to agree to a deal last week. The strike is expected to severely disruptive for the carmakers as each of them stands to lose as much as $5.4 billion if the work stoppage lasts around six weeks.