GM, UAW Reach Accord to End Strike

The United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp. reached a tentative contract early Wednesday to end the union’s two-day national strike, the Associated Press reported.

The agreement ends the first against the automaker in 37 years, and the first in the U.S. auto industry in 31 years, and puts responsibility for retirees’ health care into the union’s hands, AP reported.

The two sides said the deal creates a GM-funded, UAW-run trust to administer retiree health care, AP reported. They gave no further details, but one source told AP it would give workers bonuses and lump-sum payments and would pay newly hired workers at lower rates.

The contract must be reviewed by UAW locals and then will be subject to a vote of GM’s 74,000 rank-and-file union members. The agreement is expected to set a pattern for contracts at Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler, AP said.