Workers at the Dana Corporation will vote next month on whether to have United Auto Workers (UAW) representation.

UAW Union officials have been talking with Dana Corp. employees at Cape Girardeau, discussing the possibility of organizing a union at the local facility.

The local plant, which opened in 1989, produces axle components and employs about 320 workers.

A secret-ballot election conducted by the UAW will take place in mid-to-late September.

Fifty percent of employees plus one vote will be required for a union victory.

Under federal labor regulations, UAW organizers had to gain the support of 30 percent of a plant's employees to arrange for a vote at the facility.

Union officials have notified local plant officials that the necessary number of employees had indicated support to warrant an election.

Dave Blanchard, Dana's plant manager, said Monday a date would be set in the near future.

Nationally, Dana Corp. has 88 manufacturing facilities and 39 warehouse facilities in North America. Of the manufacturing facilities, 22 are unionized and six of those are represented by the UAW.

Dana will be the fourth company to hold a union vote in Cape Girardeau County this year.

Workers at The Ceramo Co. in Jackson rejected union representation in a January vote; M&W Packaging, north of Cape Girardeau, defeated union representation in March and the Cape Girardeau Community Counseling Center voted against the union in June.