Many United Auto Worker pickets at Lordstown and elsewhere who are taking part in the first strike against General Motors since 1970 are hoping they won't be out long.

But others said they were willing to sit out as long as needed to protect their jobs and benefits.

Thousands of UAW members walked out of GM's Lordstown facilities in Trumbull County and elsewhere in Ohio on Monday morning as they joined in the first nationwide strike against General Motors in 37 years. It was the first national UAW strike against a domestic automaker since 1976, when the union struck Ford Motor Co.

Workers on Monday began picketing after the UAW's 11 a.m. strike deadline passed. The union and General Motors had been in negotiations for more than 20 hours straight when the deadline came up.

The national negotiations, along with concurrent local contract talks, likely will determine if the Lordstown complex gets another GM vehicle to build after production of the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 ends as scheduled in June 2009.

UAW member Vincent Quijano reluctantly joined his co-workers striking at Lordstown.

Quijano, a 29-year employee who works in fabrication, said going on strike was a tough choice.

''Nobody wants a strike neither the company nor the union,'' Quijano said, echoing what striking union members said outside GM plants around the country. ''We want to get back to work and make cars. That's how we make money.''

The strike comes at a time when some people have growing doubts about the economy, home values in parts of the country are shrinking and mortgage foreclosures are skyrocketing.

Elsewhere in Ohio, autoworkers walked in picket lines outside GM plants in Parma, Defiance, Toledo and Ontario, near Mansfield. Workers also went on strike at a service and parts site in West Chester, near Cincinnati, and at an ACDelco site in Groveport, near Columbus.

Passing vehicles honked in support of the pickets about six to 12 were at each of the Lordstown complex's 12 gates in the first hours of the strike.

Lordstown Local 1714 President Dave Green said the mood was mixed when the strike began.

''A lot of them are anxious, nervous and just concerned about the future,'' he said.

Local 1714 represents hourly workers at the Lordstown fabrication plant. Local 1112, headed by Jim Graham, represents workers at the Lordstown assembly plant.

Both locals were working together to coordinate picketing at the mammoth complex in the Mahoning Valley.

The strike is considered by the Lordstown workers to be a positive step toward their goal to get a new car model, said Ben Strickland, Local 1112 shop chairman.

''Actually, the strike puts us in the best position for a new product,'' he said. ''The international has given us total support that they will help us ensure our future here at Lordstown.''

The strike at Lordstown started calmly, union leaders said.

''At 11 o'clock, everybody just walked,'' said Graham at Local 1112. ''It was an orderly walkout. No hollering, no screaming.''

The local had about 80 people picketing at the plant's entrances during the strike's first hours, Graham said. Pickets working four-hour shifts will staff the lines 24 hours, seven days a week, if need be, he said. The union hall will remain open throughout the strike to support workers, he said.

''I have the barrels, the wood, the tents,'' Graham said. ''The mood is very upbeat. Somebody has to stand up for the middle class.''

It remained to be seen what effect the strike would have on the automaker and consumers. The company has sufficient stocks of just about every product to withstand a short strike, according to Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis for J.D. Power and Associates.

GM spokesman Dan Flores said the automaker is disappointed in the UAW's decision to call a national strike.

''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 remain fully committed to working with the UAW to develop solutions together to address the competitive challenges facing GM,'' Flores said.

Included in the negotiations was a groundbreaking provision that would establish a UAW-managed trust to administer GM's retiree health-care obligations. GM pushed hard for the trust known as a Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association, or VEBA so it could move $51 billion in unfunded retiree health costs off its financial books. GM has nearly 339,000 retirees and surviving spouses.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Steelworkers are setting up a similar union-managed VEBA for retirees as part of a contract settlement late last year that followed a lengthy strike. The Goodyear/USW VEBA still needs federal court approval.

Manufacturing stopped with half-finished sport utility vehicles left behind on a production line at GM's assembly plant in Janesville, Wis.

Pipefitter Steve Hamilton said he was worried about supporting his two young children on just his wife's salary. ''I just want it to be short,'' he said.

Most workers said they were willing to sacrifice their pay to protect their health benefits and gain some job security. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said that job security was the top unresolved issue.

''Whatever it takes to get what we got to have in order to maintain our way of living that's what we got to do,'' said Mark Campbell, who has worked at several GM plants, including one in Arlington, Texas, for the past year. ''We can't just give up.''

Enrique Flores Jr., the UAW leader for the Arlington assembly plant, said the strike was a last resort.

''If jobs like ours go away, so does that money'' that helps local economies, he said. ''So we're not fighting just for ourselves. We are fighting for our communities.''