Nearly 50,000 members of the United Auto Workers went on strike Monday amidst ongoing negotiations with General Motors, CBS reports.
After 48,000 workers went on strike, 33 manufacturing plants and 22 parts distribution warehouses were shut down, spanning nine different states across the U.S.
The strike comes as UAW had been negotiating “a new four-year contract” with GM. UAW’s Vice President Terry Dittes said that the workers were “standing up for fair wages, standing up for affordable quality health care,” and “standing up for our share of the profits.” GM has said that it has already offered “pay raises and $7 billion worth of U.S. factory investments that would result in 5,400 new positions.”
As CBS notes, this marks “the first national strike by the union since a two-day walkout in 2007.”