Members of the unions representing 2,000 FairPoint Communications employees have voted to authorize their leaders to call a strike at the company.

The Communications Workers of America, Local 1400 and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Locals 2320, 2326 and 2327 announced the voting results Saturday morning.

Additional Images The Associated Press

The unions have been negotiating with company management since April without reaching an agreement. The contract expires Aug. 2.

The vote does not mean that union members will actually strike but gives union leaders the ability to call a strike in the future.

Voting has finished in Maine and Vermont, but has been extended in New Hampshire due to storm damage. Union leaders said the preliminary vote counts show an overwhelming majority of members in favor of strike authorization.

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