GM's U.S. Workers Strike After Contract Talks Fail (Update2)
By Jeff Green and Bill Koenig
Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp.'s U.S. factory employees went on strike nationwide for the first time in 37 years, after the largest U.S. automaker failed to reach a new labor agreement with the United Auto Workers.
The strike, confirmed by Frank Moultrie, bargaining chairman of UAW Local 22 in Hamtramck, Michigan, came 10 days after the union extended the old contract past its expiration while the two sides bargained.
The walkout reflected the collision between Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner's needs to cut labor and health-care costs, and UAW President Ron Gettelfinger's goal of protecting the pay and benefits of 73,000 union members at GM's U.S. plants.
The UAW hadn't called a nationwide strike against GM since 1970, when workers went off the job for 67 days. Since then, the union opted for strategic plant-by-plant strikes, some of which shut nearly all of GM's U.S. factories, the last in 1998.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aDkLYUoAlyhA&refer=homeI'm very proud of these people taking a stand. Very proud.