TORONTO - Production at two occupied Collins and Aikman auto-trim plants in southern Ontario returned to normal Tuesday after hundreds of unionized workers reached an $11.5-million severance deal with the American company.

The agreement ended an illegal strike by hundreds of members of the United Steelworkers, who had walked off the job 22 hours earlier and taken over the plants, which are slated to close.

"Workers should never have to down their tools and occupy a plant in order to get what the law should provide to them,'' said Marie Kelly, an assistant director with the Steelworkers.

"Quite frankly, our governments should secure that for them.''

The plant in Port Hope, which has 350 active employees and about 300 others on layoff, makes full instrument panels. The Mississauga plant, with 150 employees, makes interior trim such as cupholders and air vents.

Both are part of Collins & Aikman's plastics division and are due to close likely before year end because the Michigan-based company, which has been operating under bankruptcy protection in the United States since May 2005 and in Canada since May 2007, has been unable to find a buyer for them.

"The employer has to put the $11.5 million into a secured vehicle so that it will be there to preserve the severance pay for employees in the two bargaining units as they are terminated,'' said Kelly, who called the settlement "unprecedented.''

In addition, the union won agreement that there would be no reprisals or loss of wage for the workers who walked out, along with a commitment to further discussions on a full closure agreement.

In Southfield, Mich., Collins & Aikman vice-president David Youngman, confirmed that production had resumed at the plants but refused to discuss details of the settlement.

"We are pleased we have reached an agreement with the union,'' Youngman said.

"Our goal was to resume production without incident (and) continue supplying products to our customers while we work through the remaining details of our restructuring efforts.''

Collins & Aikman is selling or closing the 28 plastics plants it operates in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Earlier this year, employees represented by the Canadian Auto Workers union occupied a Collins & Aikman plant in Toronto after the company said it would not be able to pay millions of dollars in severance and benefits to workers laid off when the facility closes next month.

Key to the deal that ended that two-day occupation was a pledge from Chrysler to pay $1.8 million towards the severance package for the employees.

The Steelworkers recently occupied 10 plants owned by various companies in Ontario to draw attention to the loss of 275,000 manufacturing jobs in central Canada in the past five years.