Breaking News: UAW strikes GM

The UAW called a strike against GM at 11 am today. The strike began after UAW President Ron Gettelfinger thought it was time to “draw the line” on GM’s bargaining positions.

“This is very serious, but there’s not a single person here who wanted this to result in a strike,” Gettelfinger said. “There comes a time when you have to draw the line. We were pushed into a strike and that’s where we’re at.”

The strike is the result of failure of GM to address job security and other mandatory issues of bargaining. The strike includes about 73,000 UAW workers throughout the U.S.

This is first strike against GM since 1998, when a 54-day strike at the company’s parts-making operations shut GM production nationally, costing the company more than $3 billion.

The last full-fledged strike against all of GM was in 1970.

Update: GM has issued statement regarding UAW work stoppage.

We are disappointed in the UAW’s decision to call a national strike.

The bargaining involves complex, difficult issues that affect the job security of our U.S. work force and the long-term viability of the company. We are fully committed to working with the UAW to develop solutions together to address the competitive challenges facing General Motors.

We will continue focusing our efforts on reaching an agreement as soon as possible.

Visit GM’s Manufacturing and Labor Resource web site: http://www.gmmanufacturing.info/

Head over to Jalopnik for live images of the strike.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

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