Last-minute marathon talks between General Motors and the United Auto Workers broke down Monday, and thousands of U.S. auto workers walked off their jobs. This is reportedly the first nationwide UAW strike to take place during contract negotiations in more than 30 years.

Job security and health care were major issues, but the UAW president attributed the GM strike to a lack of flexibility on the part of GM. Ron Gettelfinger claimed in a news conference shortly after noon on Monday that the negotiations were "one-sided" and that "the company walked right up to the deadline like they really didn't care."

Gettelfginer insisted that the strike had nothing to do with the Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association, or VEBA, which had been a key matter in the labor talks between the UAW and GM. VEBA is a healthcare trust that GM would fund and the UAW administer.