Ford has avoided strikes in Canada after reaching a tentative agreement with the main auto union Unifor in a deal covering 5,600 workers.

The collective agreement between union and automaker expired on 18 September but both sides agreed to extend talks 24 hours after Ford made a late proposal.

Neither side had yet released details of the agreement but Unifor said the automaker made a “substantive offer”.

“We believe this tentative agreement, endorsed by the entire master bargaining committee, addresses all of the items raised by members in preparation for this round of collective bargaining,” said Unifor national president Lana Payne.

On 29 August, Unifor chose Ford to “set the pattern agreement” for deals which will also be made with GM and Stellantis.

The union said the deal would cover its members at Ford’s Oakville assembly plant, Annex and Essex engine plants in Windsor, Ontario plus parts distribution centres in Bramalea, Paris and Casselman in Ontario and Leduc, Alberta.

Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, represents 18,000 Canadian workers at Detroit Three companies north of the border. Most remaining car assembly factories are in Ontario.