Ford faces potential Canadian autoworker strike

As the United Auto Workers continue striking against Detroit’s Big Three automakers in the U.S., Ford could be hit simultaneously with a strike from union workers in Canada as early as Monday night.

Canada’s largest private-sector union, Unifor, is engaged in contract negotiations with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, and its collective agreements with the automakers expire Sept. 18 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Although the union has agreed to contract extensions for GM and Stellantis, it has vowed to strike against Ford if a new deal is not reached by the deadline.

Unifor, which represents roughly 18,000 workers at Ford, GM and Stellantis plants in Canada, has selected Ford as its strike target and plans to use the eventual terms of that agreement as the standard for its demands of the other two companies, according to the Windsor Star.

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Unifor President Lana Payne said in her latest public update from Sunday that the talks with Ford remain ongoing and some progress has been made, but that “at this stage in the negotiations, the union and the company remain far apart.”

Both sides have so far been mum about the details of what Ford has offered and what the union is asking for. 

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Unifor told FOX Business on Monday morning that negotiations were ongoing and that Payne would post a video update to the union’s website in the afternoon. 

A Ford Canada spokesperson said in a statement: “We are hard at work at the bargaining table with Unifor to create a blueprint that leads our employees, our business, our customers, and our communities into the future. As Lana Payne said in her webcast last week to Unifor members, these discussions are best left at the bargaining table.”

Unifor’s threat comes as the UAW’s strike at all three Detroit automakers enters its fourth day in the U.S. Nearly 13,000 UAW members are currently on strike at three auto plants in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri that produce the Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler, Chevrolet Colorado and other models. 

The UAW is threatening to expand its strike to more plants if deals with automakers are not reached in the coming days or weeks, and has not ruled out across-the-board strikes at all manufacturing facilities.

FOX Business’ Greg Norman contributed to this report.