Union likely to end GM strike

DETROIT — General Motors and Canada’s autoworker union last week reached a deal that will likely end a 26-day strike at a factory in Ontario that makes a hot-selling SUV.

The deal with Unifor still must be voted on by members. Terms were not disclosed.

The 2,500 members of Unifor Local 88 went on strike Sept. 17 at the factory in Ingersoll, Ontario, west of Toronto. The workers make the Chevrolet Equinox, a compact sport utility vehicle that is a hot seller.

The union wanted GM to designate the plant as the main Equinox manufacturer. The company can make the same vehicle at two plants in Mexico, drawing the disputed North American Free Trade Agreement into the labor dispute.

“This strike has shown all of Canada why a renewed North American Free Trade Agreement must address the needs of working people first,” Unifor President Jerry Dias said in a statement on the union website.

The statement said the deal would end the strike. The union’s local bargainers and national leadership are recommending that the contract be approved, the statement said. Unifor said terms would be released after the ratification vote, which likely will come early this week week.

On Thursday it appeared that both sides had reached an impasse over the union’s job security demands.