A two-day United Auto Workers nationwide strike against General Motors Corp. ended Wednesday after both sides agreed to a tentative contract agreement. The union said the deal was reached shortly after 3 a.m.

; The agreement includes GM's top priority in the negotiations — transferring most of its 51 billion U.S. dollar unfunded retiree health care obligation to a UAW-run trust. The company would pay about 70 percent of the obligation into the trust, called a Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association, or VEBA.

The union would then invest the money and take over health care responsibilities for about 340,000 GM hourly retirees and spouses.

"I'm pleased to say that we have a VEBA in place that will secure the benefits of our retirees," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said at an early morning news conference inside the union's Detroit headquarters.

The contract must be reviewed by local UAW presidents and will then be subject to a vote of GM's 73,000 rank-and-file members. The agreement is expected to set a pattern for contracts at Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC.

The deal means UAW will tell workers to head back to their jobs at around 80 GM facilities across the nation. The union went on strike at 11 a.m. Monday when talks broke down.

"There's no question this was one of the most complex and difficult bargaining sessions in the history of the GM-UAW relationship," Rick Wagoner, GM chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.