Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 voted with a majority of 87 percent to reject a contract proposal offered by the Kroger Company, and authorized a strike by the same margin.  Approximately 3,000 UFCW workers are employed at 38 supermarkets spread among West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio.  The strike vote is intended to wring concessions from Kroger after negotiations collapsed.  Following intercession by Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service of the Department of Labor, contract negotiations were reconvened.