More than 49,000 members of the United Auto Workers walked off General Motors (General Motors) factory floors or set up picket lines early today as contract talks with the company deteriorated into a strike.
Workers shut down 33 manufacturing plants in nine states across the US, as well as 22 parts distribution warehouses.
It wasn’t clear how long the walkout would last, with the union saying GM has budged little in months of talks while the company said it made substantial offers including higher wages and factory investments.
It was the first national strike by the union since a two-day walkout in 2007 that had little impact on the company.
Striking GM employees were joined on the picket lines by workers from Ford and Fiat Chrysler, who are working under contract extensions.
