General Motors Contract, Economics or Politics?

General Motors and the United Automobile Workers have agreed to a tentative four-year contract that includes a signing bonus and improved benefits, the two sides said.

Full terms of the deal, struck late Friday, were not announced. The UAW said workers will get better pension and health-care benefits and a greater opportunity to share in company profits if they increase. General Motors Co. will increase entry-level pay by $2 to $3 an hour as part of a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract with the United Auto Workers, said two people familiar with the accord.

Starting pay will increase to about $16 an hour from $14 and rise to about $19 an hour from a previous maximum of $16, said the people who asked not to be identified disclosing details before they have been presented to union members for ratification. UAW President Bob King had said getting those workers a middle-class lifestyle was his highest priority.