General Motors-UAW contract ends 40-day strike

The United Auto Workers and General Motors have agreed to a four-year contract to end workers' six-week strike, UAW announced Friday.

The two parties reached a tentative contract last week, and as of Friday at 4 p.m., 57 percent of UAW members voted to approve it. The contract includes a benefits package, "annual lump-sum bonuses," and an additional $11,000 ratification bonus for all full-time members working at GM.

In the negotiations, GM also agreed to reduce the number of hours it takes for workers to reach a $32-per-hour wage. Temporary workers will get $4,500 ratification bonuses, and 900 of them will become full employees in January. Despite those gains, UAW said under the contract, it will not block GM's plans to close four plants across the U.S.

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More than 50,000 GM workers nationwide had been strike since mid-September. They will now report to work as soon as this weekend, at GM's request. UAW says it now intends to bargain with Ford, as it had put negotiations with the company on hold as it focused on GM.