G.M. and Union Reach Tentative Agreement

The United Automobile Workers union and General Motors reached a landmark agreement on Sept. 26 , ending a two-day strike.

The two sides resolved a key issue of health care fundning by creating a trust to be run by the union. U.A.W. leaders planned to meet later in the week to consider the contract. If approved, it would go to workers for a vote.

The union’s president, Ron Gettelfinger, said the new contract “will absolutely protect their jobs and keep jobs from being reduced.” He said that the number of jobs at G.M. would be “pretty much the same if not higher” when the contract concludes in 2011.

The U.A.W. recessed the strike and said if the contract was not ratified, workers could return to picket lines. The agreement included a memorandum of understanding to establish an independent health care trust, as well as other changes to the national agreement.

G.M. said implementation of the trust would be subject to court approval, as well as a review by G.M.’s accounting for the trust by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The union had not staged a national strike since 1970; its last major walkout, at two plants in Flint, Mich., was in 1998.

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