And once the walkouts in Flint, Michigan are settled, the UAW may unleash other local strikes against GM, repeating the cascade of plant closures and layoffs now gripping the automaker.

Yokich, addressing thousands of UAW local leaders gathered here for an elections convention, said the union would not stand for GM's threats to move work out of the Flint plants if workers fail to grant concessions.

``We're going to continue this fight till we beat them. We will last one day longer,'' Yokich shouted to thunderous applause. The strikes at GM's metal stamping plant and another parts factory in Flint have brought most of GM's North American production to a halt, idling about 131,600 workers, including the 9,200 strikers.

President Duane Zuckschwerdt of the striking UAW Local 659 atthe Flint Metal Centre, said he is preparing his 3,400 members for the worst. ``We've told them it could go into August or September,'' Zuckschwerdt said, adding that negotiators again made no progress on Monday.

The Flint Metal Centre workers went on strike from June 5, while 5,800 workers at the Delphi East parts plant, which makes spark plugs, instrument clusters and other parts, walked off the job from June 11.

On Monday, GM sent home 1,253 people from its Ste Therese, Quebec, assembly plant, halting production of Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird sport coupes. GM now has shut down 24 of its 29 light vehicle assembly plants in the United States, Canada and Mexico due to shortages of parts from the two plants.

Wall Street analysts estimate that a total shut-down will cost GM some $75 million a day, and cumulative losses could exceed $1 billion by the Fourth of July weekend.

UAW officers and bargainers alike say the strikes were mainly caused by GM not living up to its contractual commitmentsat the plants. At the Flint Metal Centre, they say GM has reneged on promises to invest $300 million in new equipment, while at Delphi East, they say GM wants to contract out work that would mean the loss of 2,500 jobs. ``This local strike is about not living up to the agreements that they made with the local memberships across the bargaining table.''

He added that the union is sending GM a strong message ``when we shut the whole goddamn country down.'' Vice- president Richard Shoemaker of the UAW's General Motors department, said he is not optimistic that the strikes will be settled before summer shutdown starts the weekend on June 27.

He said the Flint walkouts could be followed by strikes at a GM stamping plant in Indianapolis, and two brake plants in Dayton, Ohio, where similar disputes are brewing. Workers at the Dayton plants struck for 17 days in March 1996, shutting down 26 GM assembly plants and costing the auto giant $900 million.

But Shoemaker said the UAW would not strike at those plantsbefore the Flint walkouts are settled because ``it wouldn't put any additional pressure on them.'' GM officials have blamed the Metal Centre walkout on UAW Local 659's refusal to change inefficient work rules that result in annual losses of $50 million.

Last week, GM vice- president Donald Hackworth, who oversees North American car operations, said the auto-maker may have to reassess some investment plans if it cannot become competitive at those facilities.

US labour secretary Alexis Herman, also speaking to the UAW's Constitutional Convention here, said she is concerned for workers' families and communities affected by the strikes, but added that the dispute must be worked out through the collective bargaining process.

``As long as the collective bargaining process is working, I am confident that workers at GM will soon be working too,'' Herman said. More than 2,500 delegates from UAW locals around the nation are gathered in Las Vegasthis week to elect the Union's National leadership.