General Motors Corp.'s U.S. factory employees staged their first nationwide strike in 37 years after the largest U.S. automaker failed to reach a new labor agreement with the United Auto Workers. The walkout, at 11 a.m. New York time, came 10 days after the union extended the old contract past its expiration while the two sides negotiated. The latest round of bargaining had run for more than 25 straight hours from yesterday morning until the strike. Talks resumed this afternoon. ``It was a one-way set of negotiations,'' UAW President Ron Gettelfinger told reporters today in Detroit. ``It was going to be General Motors' way at the expense of the workers. The company walked right up the deadline like they really didn't care, and as a result we called a strike.''