The Latest: GM talks hit snag over job security guarantees

DETROIT (AP) — The Latest on the 23-day strike by 49,000 General Motors workers (all times local):

6:40 p.m.

Talks between General Motors and the United Auto Workers union have hit a snag over what the union says is GM's unwillingness to guarantee new products for U.S. factories.

Union Vice President Terry Dittes (DIT-ez) says in a letter to members Tuesday that a lack of commitment by GM to UAW-represented factories has weighed heavily on bargainers.

He says any pay gains will be meaningless without job security from new products. Dittes says he told the company that there is no job security when GM sells vehicles in the U.S. that are made in other countries.

The union went on strike against GM on Sept. 16, halting production at U.S. factories. Parts shortages have forced the company to close one plant each in Canada and Mexico.

GM had no immediate comment.

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4:45 p.m.

The 23-day strike by auto workers at General Motors has cost the company production of 165,000 cars and trucks and has passed the point where the GM can make up lost volume, according to auto industry analysts.

That means losses are starting to mount for the company even though its dealers have enough inventory to get by for several more weeks.

The strike by 49,000 United Auto Workers began Sept. 16.

GM made another offer Monday and talks continued Tuesday, with both sides hung up on large economic issues. The union is pushing for hourly wage increases versus lump-sum payments favored by the company, according to a person briefed on the talks. They're also haggling over pensions, faster wage increases for workers hired after 2007, and guarantees of new products for U.S. factories, said the person, who didn't want to be identified because the talks are confidential.