CRANSTON — Employees of Stop & Shop who are represented by a labor union have voted to authorize a strike against the supermarket chain. Negotiations on a labor contract nevertheless are scheduled to resume tomorrow.

Members of Local 328 and Local 1445 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which represent about 22,000 employees in Rhode Island and most of Massachusetts, yesterday voted unanimously to allow a strike to be called if a satisfactory contract settlement cannot be reached, said Jim Riley, secretary-treasurer of Local 328. About 2,800 members of Local 328 gathered at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet — some were excluded because of the fire-safety limit at the meeting hall — to cast their vote at about the same time Local 1445 voted. They joined two other locals in Connecticut and Massachusetts that earlier voted to authorize a strike.

“That’s the weapon,” Riley said of the strike vote. “That’s the threat that we take back to the [bargaining] table Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday.”

Stop & Shop, owned by the Dutch conglomerate Royal Ahold NV, is negotiating with Local 328 of Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, Local 1445 of eastern and central Massachusetts, Local 1459 of Western Massachusetts and two units representing Connecticut Workers, Locals 371 and 919.

In total, the unions represent 43,000 workers at 213 stores in New England. Workers in New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire are covered under separate contracts.

The chain, based in Quincy, Mass., wants union workers to contribute to their health-care premiums and allow it to switch from an employer-paid pension fund to a 401(k) plan for new employees. Riley said the employees would be willing to help pay the premiums if their health-care plan is improved.

Negotiations between the company and union broke off Saturday afternoon with no progress reported. Yesterday afternoon, Stop & Shop spokeswoman Faith Weiner said the company is prepared to resume talks tomorrow.

“They’ve agreed to take no job action while negotiations are ongoing,” Weiner said. “We remain hopeful that by the end of negotiations, we will have a new collective bargaining agreement.”

In a full-page advertisement yesterday in The Providence Sunday Journal, Stop & Shop representatives highlighted their connection to the community and sought to explain their reasoning behind the negotiations.

“The retail environment in New England is changing and growing increasingly competitive,” the ad said. “Stop & Shop is the only predominantly unionized supermarket chain left in New England. Virtually all of our competitors employ non-union labor in their stores, who make contributions to the cost of their healthcare. Our union associates do not make contributions toward the purchase of their health care coverage.”

Union members of Local 328 also took out a full page ad, lambasting the company owners and asking for community support.

“When Stop & Shop was an American-owned company, they cared about their employees,” the ad stated. “Now that they are owned by a FOREIGN CORPORATION, they only care about the bottom line. . . . The next time you are shopping at Stop & Shop, please tell the store manager that if the employees of Stop & Shop are forced to go out on strike, you will NOT cross the picket line to shop in their store.”

gsmith@projo.com