GM workers go on strike

UAW members started picketing at Hamtramck, Lansing and Orion and other locations when the union’s 11 a.m. deadline for a new labor agreement with General Motors Corp. passed.

A news conference is planned at 12:15 p.m. at the UAW's Solidarity House in downtown Detroit.

Carole Garcia, driving out of the Hamtramck plant with a picket sign sticking out of her sunroof, said she supports Ron Gettelfinger and believes executives are overpaid while workers are being asked to make sacrifices. You gotta do what you gotta do," she said.

While strikers and sympathizers honked horns, workers streamed out of the plant at their regularly scheduled lunch hour. They hustled to pick up signs and head to their posts at three gates to the plant, which usually makes Buicks and Cadillac DTS sedans.

Greg Kelly, a union members with 29 years at GM, said he doesn’t think either side could with stand more than a two-week shutdown, but he is “proud" of his union.
“I think it’s what we need to be doing," he said.

GM Statement: 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