(Reuters) - Canada’s Unifor union said its members at General Motors Co’s ( GM.N ) CAMI auto assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario are on a Strike from 1059 pm local time Sept. 17 as it failed to reach a tentative agreement with the automaker.

In July, GM stopped production of its Terrain sport utility vehicle model in Ingersoll, and 100 percent of the volume was moved to Mexico, resulting in 600 layoffs.

The union had blamed the North American Free Trade Agreement and Mexico’s cheaper labor costs for the job losses, which it called unjustified given strong sales of the Equinox crossover and Terrain assembled at the southern Ontario plant.

“Every member understands the importance of reaching a deal that secures production, and what that means to our families and the community,” said Mike Van Boekel, Local 88 Chair at the CAMI plant.

Securing jobs was the key to a collective agreement to replace the one expiring in September between GM and its 2,800 CAMI workers, said Unifor president Jerry Dias in February.