DETROIT (AP) -- Workers at a Ford Motor Co. plant near Kansas City, Mo., are authorizing their union leaders to call a strike against the company.
Local union President Jeff Wright said in an e-mail Monday that 3,049 workers voted to authorize a strike. Only 18 voted against it.
The workers finished voting Saturday. They were among the first to cast ballots. All Ford workers represented by the United Auto Workers will vote on the same issue by Sept. 2.
The vote is standard procedure in contract negotiations and doesn't mean there will be a strike. UAW President Bob King has said he's not thinking about a work stoppage.
Contracts between the union and Ford, General Motors and Chrysler expire on Sept. 14. Negotiations with all three companies are under way.