Union employees at Alcoa’s Warrick Operations have authorized a strike.
In a news release, United Steel Workers Local 104 says its members voted unanimously to grant their negotiating team the authority to strike, “if necessary.”
The union says more than 1200 workers have continued to work under the terms and conditions of a contract that expired two weeks ago.
Alcoa says a deadline was not set when the two sides agreed to extend negotiations.
In a statement, the company says the existing contract was extended to give more time for both the union and Alcoa to negotiate a new labor agreement. The company says it’s “ready to resume contract talks soon.”
The union has said the company is demanding economic and non-economic concessions that it considers “excessive and unnecessary.”