Fiat Chrysler and Unifor reach tentative agreement

Unifor says it has reached a tentative agreement for 9,000 workers at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in Canada.

The agreement averted a possible midnight strike at six plants, four in Ontario, one in Montreal and one in Alberta.

Unifor national president Jerry Dias says the automaker has agreed to invest up to $1.5-billion at the Windsor, Ontario assembly plant, with nearly 2,000 new workers being hired starting in 2023.

Windsor will have one platform for the Pacifica and Voyager minivans and another new one set to launch in 2024 with at least one plug-in hybrid or battery electric vehicle.

It comes after the union reached a deal with Ford last month, creating a template for talks with the other two Detroit automakers.

Workers will begin to vote on the deal Sunday morning.