The United Auto Workers union has reached a tentative deal with General Motors to end a month-long strike by 49,000 workers, the AP reported on Wednesday.
Details of the agreement were not yet available.
On September 16, the UAW voted to call the first major strike in ten years for GM. Union heads and GM management had failed to agree on terms for new worker contracts, and were divided over issues of pay raises, health benefits, and job security.
“We are standing up for the fundamental rights of working people in this country,” said UAW negotiator Terry Dittes at the time. GM responded that, “Our goal remains to build a strong future for our employees and our business.”
The deal to end the strike, which has so far cost GM roughly $2 billion, will not go into effect immediately. The details still need to be reviewed by UAW committee heads, after which union members must vote on the proposal.
Several Democratic presidential candidates, including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have met with the striking autoworkers during the past month, and one, Beto O’Rourke, even brought up the subject during Tuesday night’s Democratic primary debate.
“I’ve met with these members of the UAW who are striking outside of facilities in Cincinnati, in Lordstown, Ohio, which has just been decimated by GM and their maleficence, paying effectively zero in taxes last year,” O’Rourke said. “They want fairness in how we treat workers in this country, and they’re not getting it.”