The United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp. agreed this morning to a tentative contract that ends a two-day national strike, the first against the automaker in 37 years, and puts responsibility for retirees’ health care into the union’s hands, the Associated Press reported.

GM and the UAW confirmed that the deal creates a GM-funded, UAW-run trust to administer retiree health-care benefits. The two sides gave no other details, but a person briefed on the contract said that it also would give workers bonuses and lump-sum payments and would pay newly hired workers at lower rates. The person requested anonymity because the contract talks are private.

The union said the agreement with the nation’s largest automaker was reached shortly after 3 a.m. The UAW canceled the strike about an hour later and some workers could return as early as this afternoon.

The contract must be reviewed by local UAW presidents and will then be subject to a vote of GM’s 74,000 rank-and-file members. The agreement is expected to set a pattern for contracts at Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC.