ST. LOUIS -- As the United States presses its global war on terrorism, Boeing Co. defense workers who make everything from fighter jets to smart bombs overwhelmingly agreed Saturday to walk off the job if necessary if pending labor talks falter.

Officials with the International Association of Machinists' District 837 cautioned that the strike authorization -- endorsed by 98 percent of the roughly 1,250 union members who voted -- was procedural and did not signal an imminent work stoppage.

The union's three-year contract expires May 23, by which time the union expects to vote on a new three-year deal. Formal negotiations begin April 26, with Saturday's vote labeled by the union as a procedural matter -- and strategic as a potential bargaining chip for the machinists.

"I am hopeful we will come up with a contract proposal that meets the needs of the membership," said Tom Pinski, communicator for District 837, which represents 2,811 Boeing workers here. "But it's still early in the game, and the hard issues are not being tackled yet."

Pinski said the significance of the labor issues while the U.S. military remains involved in Iraq and Afghanistan wasn't lost on anyone.

"We are in a war, and we do build the military products that are protecting our men and women overseas. We don't want to have an adverse effect on them," Pinski said, noting that Boeing's St. Louis-based Integrated Defense Systems has become a profit vehicle. The machinists are "making millions of dollars for Boeing" without being adequately rewarded, he said.

Pinski said the union hopes to address in the approaching contract talks such matters as job security, increased retiree benefits and affordable health care.

In a statement, Boeing said it is "working with the machinists union to understand the issues involved, and we are negotiating in a collaborative way."

"Boeing is committed to negotiate a very fair and balanced package that will benefit our employees and their families," the company said.

Chicago-based Boeing's production in St. Louis includes the F/A-18 Super Hornet attack plane and the F-15 Eagle fighter.

Over the years, bargaining involving the machinists have proved testy.

Eight years ago, former aerospace giant McDonnell Douglas Corp. -- then Missouri's largest private employer -- and its striking machinists were at loggerheads. U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt, a St. Louis Democrat, brought both sides together in his Capitol office, where they brokered an end to a three-month walkout after 30 straight hours of talks.

In 2001, workers at Boeing, which by then had bought McDonnell Douglas, rejected a contract offer but later agreed to a deal, a day before a walkout was to have begun.