General Motors and the United Auto Workers (UAW) reached a tentative agreement on a new national labor contract at 3:05 a.m. today, ending the much publicized strike.

More than 70,000 UAW members nationwide walked off their posts at General Motors on Monday morning, after negotiations between the two organizations failed to reach a labor agreement. The UAW contract had expired on September 14th.

The tentative agreement includes provisions for creating an independent retiree health care trust that would assume a reported $50 billion in obligations, according to the Detroit News. With initial funding from GM, the voluntary employees' beneficiary association (VEBA) would reportedly be able to provide retiree health benefits for an estimated 80 years. In the process, it would remove the significant financial burden from GM.

GM agreed to hire 4,100 currently temporary workers, though at their lower wage and with a different benefits package than previous permanent workers.

There are other aspects, such as sign-on bonuses for new hires and scheduled pay increases, that have been variously reported, though there is no official release at this time.

Ultimately, the agreement is not final until it is ratified, approved by the courts, and reviewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The UAW expects the terms negotiated with GM to set the tone for discussions with Chrysler Group and Ford Motor Company, according to Automotive News.

The national UAW contract with both Chrysler and Ford also expired mid September.

We expect that the short strike will have a very limited impact on consumers. It's unclear, though, whether or not GM will benefit from this agreement. Time will tell if both sides made the right decisions.

--Jeff Bartlett