The union representing autoworkers at Ford’s Canadian operations says prospects for a deal between the two sides remain uncertain – ahead of the midnight strike deadline.

Unifor says Ford is refusing to follow the pattern of deals reached with General Motors and Fiat Chrysler – without several ”offsets.”

Those include the immediate introduction of temporary full-time workers that would receive a lower starting wage – and concessions in the workers’ long-term health-care plans.

A Unifor spokesperson says those offsets are of “significant concern” – and more than 67-hundred Ford workers are prepared to go on strike immediately – if a deal can’t  be reached by the deadline.

If the workers strike – it would be the first strike by Canadian autoworkers at one of the so-called Big Three since 1996.