FILE PHOTO: A "UAW On Strike" sign is seen during a rally outside the shuttered General Motors Lordstown Assembly plant during the United Auto Workers national strike in Lordstown, Ohio, U.S. September 20, 2019. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

(Reuters) - General Motors Co and United Auto Workers (UAW) said they will continue talks on a new labor deal on Monday, as a strike by the union’s members enters its third week.

UAW members went on strike on Sept. 16 seeking higher pay, greater job security, a bigger share of the leading U.S. automaker’s profit and protection of their healthcare benefits.

“Negotiations will resume first thing Monday morning and we will continue to look for solutions to reach an agreement,” said UAW, a union that represents the automaker’s 48,000 striking hourly workers in the United States.

GM said it would continue the talks aimed at reaching an agreement that “builds a stronger future for its employees and business”.

The strike is the first nationwide walkout at GM since a two-day work stoppage in 2007.

The UAW has been careful about deploying strikes to gain leverage in bargaining since a 54-day walkout that occurred in Flint, Michigan, in 1998 that cost GM more than $2 billion and accelerated the loss of UAW-GM jobs.