Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. union workers said today's strike is a message that they expect to share in the financial success of the largest U.S. automaker.

``We've given back to GM so many times. Now it's their turn to give back,'' said Kenneth Greene, 53, a 23-year GM employee and team leader at the company's Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant. ``This strike is necessary.''

More than 73,000 United Auto Workers members walked off the job today at GM plants throughout the U.S. after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on a new contract. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger extended the old contract 10 days past its expiration while the two sides negotiated.

Interviews with union workers at two Detroit-area factories reflected a mix of regret over their first nationwide strike in 37 years and a belief that GM made a walkout inevitable by demanding union concessions. Anxiety over lost income also shadowed many of the conversations.

``We didn't want to walk out,'' said Billy Cummings, a 32- year GM worker at the automaker's transmission plant in Warren, Michigan. ``But you've got to take a stand for what's right.''

Union members scoffed at GM's insistence on the need for labor savings to help stem $12.4 billion in losses in 2005 and 2006. With GM taking in $207 billion in revenue last year and paying Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner $10.2 million in total compensation, the automaker isn't really dependent on union givebacks to survive, workers said.

Golden Goose

``We're not out to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, but we need a contract we can live with,'' said Art Ellsworth, 54, a Detroit-Hamtramck worker with 30 years at GM. ``Gettelfinger is bargaining on behalf of the entire middle class of the United States.''

After the strike began at 11 a.m. New York time, workers picketed at Detroit-area GM plants throughout the afternoon, carrying signs and shouting to motorists, many of whom honked car horns in support.

Lamont Young, 34, a Southfield, Michigan, resident with 10 years' seniority at GM, framed the union's walkout as a stand against widening income inequality in which rich Americans get richer while others fall behind.

``My kids want to go to college, too,'' Young said. ``We all deserve a decent life.''

For many workers, support for the strike was mingled with concern that a lengthy walkout would sap their savings and create economic hardship at home. Union members receive $200 a week plus health care benefits while on strike.

``I hope it doesn't last long, because nobody is going to win,'' said Rick Brown, a 22-year GM employee who works at the Warren transmission plant.

To contact the reporters on this story: John Lippert in Detroit at jlippert@bloomberg.net; Mike Ramsey in Warren, Michigan, at mramsey6bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 24, 2007 15:54 EDT