Canadian car workers bargain on a pattern. The union, Unifor, settles first with one of the three big carmakers in the country, and the wages and benefits agreed there become the template for the other two. This autumn it has settled with Ford and General Motors. At Stellantis, it says, the template comes with a condition attached.
Unifor said on Tuesday that it will hold strike authorisation votes on 17 and 18 October among the more than 9,000 Stellantis workers it represents in Canada, and announce the results on 19 October. The union had hoped to reach a tentative agreement without a strike vote, as it did at Ford and GM. "With negotiations still at an impasse over several key issues, including the future of the Brampton Assembly Plant and the core economic pattern being conditional on an agreement to close and sell the plant, the union will now proceed to hold strike votes," it said in a statement.
A yes vote gives the bargaining committee the authority to call a strike. It does not mean one will happen. "Strike action remains a last resort, but the ability to strike is an important part of collective bargaining and can help create the conditions for an agreement," the union said.
The plant in question
The Brampton plant, north-west of Toronto, closed for retooling in 2023, when it employed more than 3,000 people, The Globe and Mail reported. About 2,200 are still on layoff. Stellantis moved planned production of the Jeep Compass to Belvidere, Illinois, last year, after the United States imposed tariffs on Canadian-made cars. Those tariffs have been 25 per cent since 2025. Imports from Canada jumped in August as companies rushed shipments ahead of further tariffs, this publication reported.
On 11 September Stellantis said it had a memorandum of understanding to sell the plant to Roshel, a Brampton defence contractor that makes armoured vehicles. "Stellantis believes that Roshel represents a strong path to restoring sustainable operations at Brampton assembly, preserving the site's strategic role in Canada's advanced manufacturing sector and helping to avoid a prolonged period of inactivity," the company said then. Unifor walked away from the bargaining table the same day.
The federal government has said that a sale would put Stellantis in breach of a funding agreement under which it received public money to retool the plant, the Globe reported.
Beyond one plant
Unifor says the dispute is wider than Brampton. "To be clear, the unresolved issues with the company extend well beyond the future of the Brampton Assembly Plant," its statement said. "They relate to the broader job security of all union members and the future of Stellantis operations across Canada."
A strike would most directly affect Stellantis's minivan plant in Windsor, Ontario, and its parts plant in Toronto, according to the Globe. Unifor Local 444 represents more than 6,400 workers at the Windsor plant, which builds the Chrysler Pacifica, Chrysler Voyager and Grand Caravan minivans and the Dodge Charger, AM800 CKLW reported.
James Stewart, the local's president, who chairs the union's Stellantis bargaining committee, said a deal was still achievable and that talks were continuing behind the scenes. He also wants the company's commitment to a third shift at Windsor kept. "If we don't fight for Brampton, if we don't fight for a commitment they made to Brampton, then it sends a message to Stellantis that they can walk away from any agreement they make because no one is going to fight for it," he told the station. "We can't allow that to happen."
The previous agreement expired on 20 September. Talks opened on 1 September and stalled after ten days.
As the union describes it, the choice on offer is a trade: the same money as Ford and GM workers in return for giving up a plant that once employed thousands of its members.
The vote dates, the result date, the issues in dispute and the union's statement are from Unifor's release of 6 October 2026, issued by its Stellantis master bargaining committee. The membership figure and the Ford and GM settlements are as reported by AM800 CKLW and The Globe and Mail. The Roshel memorandum, Stellantis's statement of 11 September, the plant's history, layoff numbers, tariffs and the federal government's position are as reported by The Globe and Mail on 6 October. James Stewart's remarks, the Windsor plant's workforce and products and the expiry of the contract are as reported by AM800 CKLW on 7 October. Accurate to 10am ET on 7 October 2026.
Topics businesslabourunionscanada
