8-K

                                  UNITED STATES
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                              Washington, DC 20549

                                    FORM 8-K

                                 CURRENT REPORT

                     Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
                         Securities Exchange Act of 1934


        Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): August 30, 2004


                            GENERAL CABLE CORPORATION
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

         Delaware                      1-12983                   06-1398235
- -----------------------------  --------------------------   --------------------
(State or other jurisdiction    (Commission File Number)      (I.R.S. Employer
      of incorporation                                       Identification No.)


                                4 Tesseneer Drive
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        Highland Heights, Kentucky 41076
                (Address of principal executive offices/Zip Code)


                                 (859) 572-8000
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Registrant's telephone number, including area code


                                 Not Applicable
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          (Former name or former address, if changed since last report)


Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to
simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the
following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

[ ]  Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17
     CFR 230.425)

[ ]  Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17
     CFR 240.14a-12)

[ ]  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the
     Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

[ ]  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the
     Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))





ITEM 8.01. Other Events

     On August 30, 2004, the registrant issued a press release, a copy of which
is filed as Exhibit 99.1 hereto and is incorporated herein by reference.

ITEM 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits

          (c)  The exhibit accompanying this report is listed in the Index to
               Exhibits.





                                    SIGNATURE

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.


                                        GENERAL CABLE CORPORATION


Date: August 31, 2004                   By: /s/ Robert J. Siverd
                                            ------------------------------------
                                            Robert J. Siverd
                                            Executive Vice President and General
                                            Counsel





                                INDEX TO EXHIBITS


 Number                         Description                     Method of Filing
- --------      ---------------------------------------------     ----------------
  99.1        General Cable Corporation press release dated      Filed herewith
              August 30, 2004

EX-99.1

                                                                    Exhibit 99.1

          General Cable's Bonham, Texas Union Workers Declare Strike;
               Company Reaffirms Third Quarter Earnings Estimate

     HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 30, 2004--General Cable
(NYSE:BGC) announced today that contract negotiations with officials of Local
Union No. 2155, of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW),
have ended without reaching an agreement. The Company's three-year contract with
the union expired at 12:01 AM, on August 22, 2004, and was extended to 12:01 AM,
on August 31, 2004. Yesterday, August 29th, the union workers voted to strike
and did not report to work today. The Local represents 187 production and
maintenance workers at the Company's Bonham, Texas plant.
     The Bonham facility manufactures telecommunications cables, which are also
produced at two other General Cable North American manufacturing facilities. The
distribution center located in Bonham will remain open and, in the short-term,
the Company does not anticipate any significant disruption in customer service.
     While a protracted strike would negatively impact the Company's reported
financial results, improving performance will allow the Company to offset the
negative impact of the strike on its third quarter earnings. As a result, the
Company reaffirms its earnings estimate for the third quarter of 2004, which was
diluted earnings per share, excluding charges related to the previously
announced rationalization of certain of the Company's manufacturing facilities,
at or above $0.13 per share.

     General Cable (NYSE:BGC), headquartered in Highland Heights, Kentucky, is a
leader in the development, design, manufacture, marketing and distribution of
copper, aluminum and fiber optic wire and cable products for the energy,
industrial, specialty and communications markets. The Company offers competitive
strengths in such areas as breadth of product line, brand recognition,
distribution and logistics, sales and service and operating efficiency. Energy
cables include low-, medium- and high-voltage power distribution and power
transmission products. The Industrial and Specialty segment is comprised of
application-specific cables for uses such as electrical power generation
(traditional fuels, alternative and renewable sources, and distributed
generation), the oil, gas and petrochemical industries, mining, industrial
automation, marine, military and aerospace applications, power applications in
the telecommunications industry, and other key industrial segments.
Communications wire and cable products transmit low-voltage signals for voice,
data, video and control applications. Visit our website at www.GeneralCable.com.

     Certain statements in this press release, including without limitation,
statements regarding future financial results and performance, plans and
objectives, capital expenditures and the Company's or management's beliefs,
expectations or opinions, are forward-looking statements. Actual results may
differ materially from those statements as a result of factors, risks and
uncertainties over which the Company has no control. Such factors include
economic and political consequences resulting from the September 2001 terrorist
attack and the war with Iraq, domestic and local country price competition,
particularly in certain segments of the power cable market and other competitive
pressures; general economic conditions, particularly in construction; changes in
customer or distributor purchasing patterns in our business segments; the
Company's ability to increase manufacturing capacity and productivity; the
financial impact of any future plant closures; the Company's ability to
successfully complete and integrate acquisitions and divestitures; the Company's
ability to negotiate extensions of labor agreements on acceptable terms; the
Company's ability to service debt requirements and maintain adequate domestic
and international credit facilities and credit lines; the Company's ability to
pay dividends on its preferred stock; the impact of unexpected future judgments
or settlements of claims and litigation; the Company's ability to achieve target
returns on investments in its defined benefit plans; the Company's ability to
avoid limitations on utilization of net losses for income tax purposes; the cost
of raw materials, including copper and aluminum; the Company's ability to
increase its selling prices during periods of increasing raw material costs; the
impact of foreign currency fluctuations; the impact of technological changes;
and other factors which are discussed in the Company's Report on Form 10-K filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 12, 2004, as well as
periodic reports filed with the Commission.

     CONTACT: General Cable
              Paul M. Montgomery, 859-572-8315