WASHINGTON: US Congress killed a $14-billion package to help struggling automakers on Thursday, after a partisan dispute over union wage cuts derailed a last-ditch effort to revive the emergency aid before the end of the year.

Republicans, breaking with President George W. Bush as his term draws to a close, refused to back federal aid for Detroit's beleaguered "Big Three" automakers.

They wanted a guarantee that the United Auto Workers (UAW) would agree by the end of next year to bring their pay into line with US plants of Japanese carmakers, something it refused to do before its current contract with the automakers expires in 2011.