Unifor is considering the merits of negotiating a profit- sharing agreement for the first time in its history as it prepares for bargaining with the Detroit 3 automakers in August.

“We are asking our research department to do a deep dive into what that looks like,” said Dave Cassidy, president of Local 444, which represents hourly workers at Stellantis minivan assembly plant in Windsor, Ont. “There’s a lot of discussion around, ‘is it good? Is it bad? The devil is in the detail.”

Negotiations representing 22,000 hourly workers at Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis assembly and powertrain plants are expected to begin in August. Lana Payne, national Unifor president, is expected to select the union’s strike target on Labor Day weekend, said Cassidy.

The potential paradigm shift on profit-sharing follows news of unprecedented profit-sharing cheques Stellantis’ U.S. hourly workers are expected to receive this year.

“These are some of the largest checks that Stellantis U.S. has gotten in 35 years,” Cassidy said.

This year, Stellantis workers were slated to receive an average of $14,760 in profit sharing checks, a record high. GM workers will get an average of $12,750 and Ford workers will get an average of $9,176.

Each automaker has a formula to calculate the amount of compensation, but generally the amounts are based on the number of hours worked.