Nearly two years after its workers voted to establish one of the first unions at an auto factory in the South, employees at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have approved their first contract.

The United Auto Workers union announced Thursday that 96% of workers at the Chattanooga plant voted in favor of the deal, which was hashed out over months of often slow-moving talks between the union and the German automaker. It reportedly includes immediate bonuses of more than $6,500, a 20% wage increase over the life of the four-year contract, job security benefits, and cuts of at least 20% in health care premiums.

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