(CNN) -- Hundreds of workers who process the space shuttle fleet at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida could walk off their jobs this weekend.
Barring last-minute concessions in labor negotiations, about 630 employees with the United Space Alliance, NASA's main shuttle processing contractor, plan to strike after midnight Friday.
The labor action would affect almost 10 percent of the workforce of USA, which supplies electricians, crane operators, transport personnel and others that prepare NASA orbiters for launch and attend to them after landing.
A spokesperson with USA, a joint enterprise of aerospace giants Boeing and Lockheed-Martin, said a strike would not affect shuttle safety or the launch schedule.
More than 90 percent of members of Local 2061 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers approved a work stoppage unless they received what they deemed a fair contract. The current union USA contract expired June 3.
"We rejected the contract that the company offered because we felt it didn't meet the needs of our membership," said Lynn Beattie, local lodge president.
Beattie, a USA crane technician, said management had little interest in addressing union concerns to reform pay grade, dental and retirement provisions.
"We don't feel like what we're requesting is extreme. We're not trying to break the bank," he said.
Kari Fluegel, a spokesperson for USA, said the company has worked hard to address union issues and that it had offered a fair, competitive contract.
"The company is not reluctant to go the negotiation table. We have said that all along," she said.
Fleugal said a walkout would have minimal affect.
"USA is prepared to continue activities to safety prepare the space shuttle vehicles for their upcoming launches this summer, by using other experienced and certified employees to perform all necessary tasks," she said.
The substitutes would consist of managers with relevant experience and workers not represented by the union chapter.
But with a busy summer launch schedule ahead, and a dwindling Kennedy center workforce due to federal budget cutbacks, safety could be a major issue, according to Beattie.
"The biggest concern that we have is the company will try to process and move the shuttles without our people. We think that would endanger the shuttle and possibly some people and we'd hate to see that happen," he said.
"It takes years and years to learn the skills some of these people have. You can't replace them at a moment's notice."
Contract talks will resume Friday morning and both sides expressed hope that they could prevent a strike, which would be the first for employees working directly on shuttle vehicles.
The walkout would begin days before the shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to roll out to the launch pad for an early July trip to the international space station. But that launch could be delayed by technical problems on the orbiting outpost.
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