United Automobile Workers leaders voted Thursday on a tentative agreement to end a monthlong walkout by 50,000 workers at General Motors over wages, health insurance premiums and the use of temporary and “tiered” contracts. The accord includes raises and a large ratification bonus and gives temps a path to permanent status — but it also locks in the closing of a beloved factory in Lordstown, Ohio, and two others. Rank-and-file members across the country will now vote on whether to accept the deal and return to work.

The same day, 25,000 public-school educators with the Chicago Teachers Union began their own large-scale work stoppage, aspiring to repeat their successful strike in 2012. It is likely to draw more coverage in its first few days than the U.A.W.’s received altogether.

The disparity in interest is surprising, given the extent of national hand-wringing over the plight of forgotten blue-collar Americans. Those paying attention know that the G.M. strike was hugely significant. It was the largest American strike since the last, very brief work stoppage at G.M., in 2007, and the longest industry action in over two decades. It has represented both the best and the worst of the labor movement.

When the strike began in mid-September, some workers and industry watchers — and G.M. executives — accused the U.A.W. of calling the strike to distract from a scandal: The F.B.I. and federal prosecutors had recently indicted several current and former leaders of the U.A.W. on charges of embezzling funds or taking kickbacks and bribes. Though the sum total of their alleged crimes hardly compared to the nearly $22 million salary of Mary Barra, the chief executive of G.M., the corruption was shocking.