Posted: Tue, May 8, 2012, 6:08 AM ET (1008 GMT)
Unionized workers at United Launch Alliance (ULA), the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture that makes the Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, ratified a new contract by default on Sunday when a strike vote fell just short of passage. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) voted Sunday to reject a three-year contract offered by ULA, but a subsequent vote on whether to strike fell just short of the two-thirds majority needed to authorize a strike. Because the strike vote failed, the new contract went into force at midnight Monday. Union members had opposed the new contract because of changes in the company's retirement program and health care plan for new employees.

Related Links:

•  Decatur (Ala.) Daily article
•  Huntsville Times article
•  Florida Today article
•  WHNT-TV Huntsville, Ala. article
•  ULA press release