TORONTO -- A last-minute tentative agreement has averted a threatened strike by 9,750 workers at Fiat-Chrysler's operations in Ontario.

Unifor president Jerry Dias announced the four-year deal just minutes before a strike deadline of 11:59 p.m. Monday night.

He said the deal, which followed what he called "one very difficult set of negotiations," mirrors the one reached with General Motors on Sept. 20.

That deal, since ratified by GM workers, includes a two per cent wage increase this year and another two per cent increase in September, 2019.

There is also a $6,000 signing bonus plus lump sum bonuses of $2,000 in each of the next three years to most employees.

It also included improvements to benefits, hiring practices and a GM commitment to invest $554 million in its Canadian operations.

Fiat-Chrysler agreement

Dias said the agreement with Fiat-Chrysler includes a $325 million investment at an assembly plant in Brampton, Ont., and a pledge to upgrade a 30-year-old paint shop at the facility.

“It’s all about tough bargaining,” Dias told BNN in an interview Tuesday. “The old saying is that if you build it they will come. And that is what this is all about.”

Dias also said the agreement includes a measure to protect jobs at the automaker's casting plant in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke that are threatened by the company's discontinuation of the Chrysler 200 and the Dodge Dart. He said the decision will lead to the layoff of up to about 150, potentially 200 of their members.

"So what we have found is a solution to make sure that our members will not be laid off and will have employment opportunities in the Brampton assembly plant," Dias said in a news conference Monday night.  

He also said the automaker has committed to upgrades at the casting plant "to refurbish, to rebuild, to update the machinery, the equipment in order that we are prepared to solidify our strength as a die-cast operation."​

Moving toward a national auto strategy 

Dias expressed hope for the Canadian auto sector as a whole, with renewed government involvement at both the provincial and federal levels.

“There’s no question there is a different flavour in town today with Harper gone,” he told BNN. “The auto industry was going nowhere and the numbers will show that. There was a mass exodus in jobs and investments in Canada over the last 10 years because they had absolutely no auto strategy – period.”

“Trudeau’s government is much more involved,” he added. “They talk about middle class jobs. They understand the importance of the auto industry and say it publicly. The reality is if you are going to have a strong auto industry in your country [governments] are going to play a role.”

Dias said that while he thinks Canada is closer to a national auto strategy, acknowledged that Canada has lost market share to Mexico in recent years. However, he noted that these new Ontario plants will create more production opportunity in Canada, a country which he said has “the most productive workforce in the world.”

Unifor said the Fiat-Chrysler workers will vote on the tentative agreement on Sunday, and if approved, the union said it would immediately hold talks with Ford -- the last of the so-called Big Three automakers.

Fiat-Chrysler employs 9,750 workers in Brampton, Windsor and Etobicoke.

--With files from BNN