Workers from 31 plants opted to walk out after talks between the company and the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) hit an impasse as they tried to negotiate a replacement agreement when the manufacturer's four-year contract with workers expired.
How long the labor action might last was uncertain.
"The strike can take a little while longer," Brian Rothenberg, a spokesman for the powerful union, told AFP. He said that only two percent of issues under negotiation had been agreed upon.
"We have to find common ground on 98 percent of the remaining issues," he said, after the strike began at midnight Sunday, with placard-waving strikers forming picket lines outside assembly plants.
Talks were due to resume later in the morning, UAW officials said.
How long the labor action might last was uncertain.
"The strike can take a little while longer," Brian Rothenberg, a spokesman for the powerful union, told AFP. He said that only two percent of issues under negotiation had been agreed upon.
"We have to find common ground on 98 percent of the remaining issues," he said, after the strike began at midnight Sunday, with placard-waving strikers forming picket lines outside assembly plants.
Talks were due to resume later in the morning, UAW officials said.
Car production at the Detroit giant, which was saved by a multi-billion dollar bailout from the Obama administration after the 2008 economic crash, was brought to a complete standstill on Monday, Rothenberg said.
On Wall Street, GM shares fell 4.3 percent. CNBC said the strike could cost the automaker $90 million a day.
"This is our last resort," Terry Dittes, the union's lead negotiator with GM, told a news conference after the meeting Sunday. "We are standing up for the fundamental rights of working people in this country."
On Wall Street, GM shares fell 4.3 percent. CNBC said the strike could cost the automaker $90 million a day.
"This is our last resort," Terry Dittes, the union's lead negotiator with GM, told a news conference after the meeting Sunday. "We are standing up for the fundamental rights of working people in this country."
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