Although a tentative agreement was reached Thursday morning, United Auto Workers Local 602 voted it into approval at Lansing Center following an informational meeting explaining the agreement. The assembly plant makes GM’s popular crossover vehicles, the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook.

Local 602 is representing the workers, who began the strike April 17 in regards to lower pay for newer workers.

“The main goal and objective was to preserve the standard of living we’ve become accustomed to,” said Steve Bramos, chairman of the union’s negotiating committee. “I want a healthy company but I don’t want that at the expense of us.”

Bramos, an MSU graduate, said he thought the agreement was fair and equitable.

Local 602 president Doug Rademacher said the workers needed to strike to secure the first ever local agreement on working conditions for the new plant.

Because it is the first agreement for the plant, it is important to make sure it sets a good precedent for future workers, he said.

Although a national agreement was reached in the fall, local unions make their own arrangements regarding workplace policies, he said.

Conditions of the contract include a requirement for GM to give $2,000 bonuses to every production employee who helped open the plant.

MSU economics professor Charles Ballard said he thought the national agreement may have left Delta Township workers feeling slighted, provoking the strike.

Ballard said the agreements required Local 602 to make some “very serious concessions.”

“Those agreements were, at lease for some of the members, a bitter pill to swallow,” Ballard said.

GM corporate spokesperson Dan Flores said he thinks the agreement was fair to the union workers. Flores added he hopes the workers will return to work soon.

Workers will regain health care benefits withheld during the strike, Flores said. The UAW covered workers’ costs during that time.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.