Thousands of General Motors workers go on strike

(NBC News) – As many as 50,000 United Auto Workers at dozens of facilities from Michigan to Texas expected to participate with a strike after negotiations faltered between their union and General Motors.

Union spokesman Brian Rothenberg told The Associated Press on Sunday night that negotiations would resume on Monday morning, even as the strike went forward.

In a letter to members on Saturday night, the union’s vice president, Terry Dittes, said that negotiators still hadn’t been able to agree on wages, health care benefits, temporary workers, job security and profit-sharing.

During a press briefing on Sunday morning, Dittes called the decision to strike a “last resort,” and added, “We are standing up for our share of the profits.”

Depending on how long the strike lasts, it could cost General Motors a lot of money. During the last strike in 2007, it’s estimated that work action cost GM an estimated 300 million dollars a day, and it only lasted two days.