OTTAWA, Oct 30 — Canadian labour union Unifor called off a brief strike that began early today after reaching a tentative agreement with Chrysler-parent Stellantis over a new labour contract covering more than 8,000 workers.

The union had commenced strikes at all Stellantis facilities in the country as talks over a new deal hit a roadblock despite the expiration of a strike deadline at midnight yesterday.

A prolonged strike would have hit the production of some of the popular vehicles such as the Dodge Charger and Challenger, which are made in its Brampton assembly plant, and affected the assembly of minivans at the Windsor plant.

North American union workers are seeking higher wages, better work-life balance and job upgrades. Unifor’s bargaining team had prioritised discussions around support for its workers in the electric vehicle transition at the plant in Brampton.

The details of the agreement will be made available to workers prior to meetings for ratification, Unifor said today.

The agreement will "protect the long-term health of our Canadian operations”, Stellantis North America COO Mark Stewart said.

Unifor used the "pattern bargaining” approach in its talks with the automakers in Canada and reached ratified deals first with Ford and then General Motors.

The deal with GM was reached shortly after 4,300 workers went on strike at three GM facilities in Canada, while the deal with Ford came ahead of a threatened strike.

The Canadian operations of the "Detroit Three” are much smaller than their US setups, but all have critical factories in Canada.

The union’s talks in Canada are separate from the United Auto Workers (UAW) union’s negotiations in the United States.

The UAW and Stellantis reached a tentative agreement on a new labour contract on Saturday. The automaker’s US-listed shares were up 1.6 per cent before the bell. — Reuters