Canadian autoworkers union Unifor said it has set an Oct. 9 deadline to reach a tentative agreement with General Motors.

"Unifor informed GM that the union has set a negotiating deadline for Monday, October 9 at 11:59 p.m.," officials said Thursday in a bargaining update on its website.

The announcement comes about four days after its members ratified a historic contract with Ford Motor Co.

Union officials said Thursday that "bargaining committees are now focused on locking in the pattern agreement at General Motors."

"All of the significant increases to pensions, wages, health benefits, and more must now be bargained with the company," the statement said. "The gains negotiated in the pattern include the best wage package ever negotiated in the union’s history, as well as reducing the grow-in from 8 years to 4 years, a $10,000 productivity and quality bonus for full-time employees and a $4,000 bonus for 'temporary part-time employees.'

"There is a lot of work to do, and we have confidence that our bargaining team is up to the challenge."

Unifor’s negotiations with GM cover approximately 4,300 workers at the St. Catharines Powertrain Plant building engines for the Chevrolet Equinox and Corvette, Oshawa Assembly Complex making light- and heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks and parts for other vehicles, and the Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre in Ontario.

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