The union representing 3,500 workers at four Macy’s department stores – including the flagship Herald Square location – has voted to authorize a strike if talks with store management fail to resolve a contract dispute.

Sales associates, tailors, stock clerks, gift wrappers, and other workers at the Manhattan store and three others in Queens, the Bronx, and White Plains voted over the past week to authorize a walkout, union spokeswoman Carolyn Daly said yesterday. At issue are health care payments and wage increases, she said.

“We’re not asking for the moon. We’re asking for basic things that people need,” union president Ken Bordieri said by telephone.

The union’s current contract expires on March 3, “and the negotiations have not been going well,” Ms. Daly said.

Macy’s placed classified ads in newspapers on Sunday seeking workers “in anticipation of a possible labor dispute.” Macy’s spokeswoman Elina Kazan said the store placed the ads because it had to make contingency plans.

“We have been working very hard towards reaching an agreement and will continue to bargain in good faith until we do so,” Macy’s said in a statement. “All issues are being discussed at the bargaining table. We are committed to reaching an agreement before the deadline.”

Macy’s has proposed increasing the portion of health care premiums that workers pay from 50% to 60% and raising deductibles from $2,500 to $3,000, Ms. Daly said.

The store has also sought to tie raises to performance reviews and to penalize workers who do not meet quotas that dictate how many people they must sign up for Macy’s credit cards, Ms. Daly asserted. Ms. Kazan declined to discuss negotiation specifics.

Ms. Daly said 98% of the workers were in favor of the authorization at votes held at each store.

Macy’s workers make an average of $11 an hour and work roughly 35 hours a week, Ms. Daly said.

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1-S plans a February 27 rally in front of the flagship store at 34th Street.

The four New York-area Macy’s stores are among more than 850 department stores operated by Federated Department Stores Incorporated around the country.

Federated, which employees roughly 244,000 people nationwide, also operates Bloomingdale’s, Famous-Barr, Filene’s, and Marshall Field’s stores, among others, according to its Web site.

The Macy’s flagship store, a New York City landmark, is known as “the world’s largest department store.” Macy’s produces the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.