Members of Unifor Local 88 meet at the London Convention Centre as a strike deadline looms for the GM CAMI Ingersoll plant. Photo courtesy of Twitter/@shiguy79

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Employees at General Motors’ CAMI plant in Ingersoll have walked off the job.

Unifor Local 88, which represents assembly line workers at the plant, says it was unable to reach a new contract agreement by 11pm Sunday and workers are on strike.

This is the first work stoppage at a Canadian auto plant against a Detroit-based automaker since 1996.

Members met at the London Convention Centre for a strike information meeting Sunday. The union says on its official Facebook page that the meeting dealt with picket duty and strike benefits and pay. Members were encouraged to sign up for picket duty at the meeting.

The two sides had been at the table for the past two weeks trying to hammer out a deal. Concerns had been raised by union members over the loss of jobs at the plant. Earlier this year, it was announced over 600 positions would be cut at the plant after production of one model was moved to Mexico.

In a statement on its corporate website GM Canada says:

“At GM Canada, we are proud of the experience, quality and productivity of our CAMI workforce and will work with our Union partners toward another innovative and mutually beneficial competitive agreement.”

The plant currently has 2,450 hourly employees and over 300 salaried employees, according to GM Canada. The plant currently builds the next-generation Chevrolet Equinox.