By Gunnar Heinrich

I don't know what the suits from GM said to the UAW people, but whatever slipped from their carefully choreographed corporate tongues really pissed Ron Gettelfinger & Company off.

As a result, the UAW is holding a nationwide strike for the first time since 1976.

The UAW represents 73,000 GM employees who have now walked off the job at 82 assembly plants and warehouses nationwide.

The AP reported Gettelfinger's apparent disgust with "one-sided negotiations."

"It was going to be General Motors' way at the expense of the workers," Gettelfinger told reporters at news conference. "The company walked right up to the deadline like they really didn't care."

For GM's part, they too seemed sorry for the way negotiations over pensions, retirement benefits, and healthcare coverage costs for UAW employees broke down. But at the end of the day, it was all about what the General needed.

"We remain fully committed to working with the UAW to develop solutions together to address the competitive challenges facing GM,"GM spokesman Dan Flores said.

The UAW maintains that they're holding out for solid reassurances from General Motors that their members will have something little known today as "job security."

[Source: Yahoo!News]