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GM Workers Strike After Talks FailGeneral Motors Corp.'s U.S. factory employees went on strike nationwide Monday for the first time in 37 years after the automaker failed to reach a new labor agreement with the United Auto Workers, Bloomberg News reported.
The 11 a.m. walkout came 10 days after the union extended the old contract past its expiration while the two sides negotiated. The latest round of bargaining had run for more than 25 straight hours Sunday and Monday, Bloomberg said.
The strike reflects a collision between Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner's need to cut labor and health-care costs, after $12.4 billion in losses in 2005 and 2006, and UAW President Ron Gettelfinger's goal of protecting the pay and benefits of 73,000 members at GM's U.S. plants. UAW membership fell to 538,448 in December from a peak of 1.5 million in 1979, Bloomberg said.
GM spokesman Tom Wickham said talks broke off Monday morning after the strike began, but Gettelfinger said negotiations would resume.
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