Ford Motor (NYSE: F) has reached a deal with the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union, according to The Globe and Mail, sidestepping a strike which was set to start at midnight. The deal will create 500 jobs in Ontario, though new hires will be paid a lower hourly wage. The four-year deal includes $2,000 bonuses for cost-of-living adjustments, according to the report.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Chrysler remained in negotiations with the union early in the evening to see if they, too, could avoid a Canadian strike scheduled for midnight.

The new agreement, instead of starting workers at $24 an hour and taking six years to reach $34 an hour, will cut starting wages and take 10 years to reach the $34 rate, according to The Globe and Mail report.

Some 21,000 Canadian auto workers were set to go on strike if a deal was not reached. Auto executives at the Detroit-based companies claim that Canada is now the most expensive country in the world to make cars, and the newly profitable auto industry is trying to cut costs.

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