May 5, 2008: 10:49 AM EDT

United Auto Workers 2,500-strong Local 31 hits 'Car of the Year'
facility; GM lost $3.3B in first quarter.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/05/news/companies/gm_strike.ap/index.htm?section=mo
ney_latest

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) -- Members of a United Auto Workers union local
went on strike Monday at General Motors' Fairfax facility -- hitting
the plant that makes GM's popular Malibu sedan.

During talks over the weekend, UAW Local 31 set a Monday morning
strike deadline because union negotiators believed the two sides
remained far from an agreement. The Fairfax plant employs more than
2,500 UAW members.

The plant makes the Chevrolet Malibu, a medium-sized sedan that was
named "Car of the Year" at this year's North American International
Auto Show in Detroit.

The strike hits a key GM (GM, Fortune 500) product at a time when the
company can ill afford it.

Last week GM announced that it lost $3.3 billion in the first quarter,
due largely to one-time charges and North American losses that offset
gains in the rest of the world.