DETROIT – The United Automobile Workers and General Motors announced Wednesday that they have reached a proposed tentative agreement 31 days into the national workers' strike.
The news of a tentative agreement broke right before noon.
The strike will continue as the UAW goes through the process of approving the deal. Thursday will be a crucial day for members wondering what's next and how long it will be before factories are up and running again.
READ: UAW-GM reach proposed tentative agreement: Here's what's next
The union is promising the rank and file major gains in this contract and GM beefed up production plans -- which was one of the biggest issues the union held out for.
MORE: A timeline of events in the UAW-GM strike
Neither the union nor the company want the details to get out before the subcommittee meets Thursday.
Local 4 confirmed a number of corners of the final deal: It starts with plant investment, totaling $9 billion -- a big step up from the original $2 billion. Most of it will be UAW-GM work but a sizable chunk goes to joint ventures.
One of the biggest UAW demands is their health care, and GM has reportedly agreed to enhanced health care at no extra cost.
The current time to progress to top pay with full-time, full benefits status is eight years -- a remnant of GM's bankruptcy 10 years ago. The new deal cuts that time in half.
This matters greatly to temporary employees who should now qualify for in-progression after three years, and they'll also see a signing bonus.
There are parts of the deal Local 4 has not seen, but had previously been settled and might have changed in the final minutes.
In two to four years, the rank and file are expected to see three percent raises, up from two percent in two years, bonuses in the other two years and signing bonuses of $9,000.
That money is important to those on the picket line because, as labor expert Dr. Arthur Schwartz said, the rank and file missed out on two and a half paychecks.
"This would more than make up for it," Schwartz said. "Although I'm sure they were hoping to spend the entire ratification bonus on things other than making up for what they didn't pay over the past five weeks."
Another one of these is the commitment to build an electric pickup at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly and build a new, but smaller, battery assembly facility near the old Lordstown plant in Ohio.
The national strike against GM began on Sept. 15 and by the next day, nearly 50,000 union members had stopped reporting to work. The strike has resulted in the shutting down of 33 manufacturing plants and 22 part distribution facilities nationwide.