"It's time to give a little bit back," said Local 652 protester Mike Green. "You know they've taken a lot of money from domestic car sales and invested it all over the world, it's time to bring some things back to the U.S."

Nearly 1,600 union employees walked out of the GM Grand River Plant at 11 a.m. unhappy with contract negotiations.

While on strike, the UAW will provide pay and medical benefits from the their strike fund. Workers at the Grand River Plant admit they're not sure if they'll be able to scrap by.

"We're fortunate we even get 200 dollars a week," said protester Deb Sweet-Swick. "UAW can't afford it, we can't afford it, of course the state of Michigan I don't believe can afford it."

Six different types of cars are made at plant, including the Cadillac CTS, and the SUV SRX. A decision to strike could halt production, and GM had a response to the strike.

"We are disappointed in the UAW's decision to call a national strike," the memo read. "The bargaining involves complex, difficult issues that affect the job security of our U.S. work force and the long-term viability of the company. We are fully committed to working with the UAW to develop solutions together to address the competitive challenges facing general motors."

The message concluded, "We will continue focusing our efforts on reaching an agreement as soon as possible."

An agreement that may still hurt.

"They wanna make a lot of cuts in our pay," said Deborah Wright, who works on the assembly line at the Grand River Plant. "With competition, I don't think we can cut that much."