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Showdown Looms As Washington Metro Workers Approve Strike

FORESTVILLE, Md. (AP) — After years without a new contract, the Washington Metro's largest union has overwhelmingly authorized a strike, just as thousands of tourists arrive in the nation's capital for this week's Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

Union leaders haven't decided whether or when they'll declare the strike. They're waiting on a management response, expected Monday.

The Amalgamated Transit Union represents includes around 8,000 of Metro's 12,500 active workers and has been without a contract since July 2016.

Local 689 President Jackie L. Jeter says 94 percent of voters on Sunday approved the potential strike.

Striking is forbidden under Metro's bargaining agreement with the union, but even a brief interruption could disrupt a system that carries about a million people a day.

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