Two separate meetings at the US company's biggest UK plant, each involving hundreds of workers, backed a call from local shop stewards for a vote. The move follows a number of incidents at the plant and complaints from union officials that Ford was not doing enough to tackle the problem.
On Tuesday, about 1,300 workers at Dagenham staged a strike that received immediate but covert backing by union leaders. The action halted production of Fiestas and Mazda 121s.
Black, white and Asian employees joined the unofficial strike in the latest flare-up at the plant where 45% of the workforce is non-white. Workers wore stickers on their overalls demanding the sacking of an allegedly racist manager, and "justice and respect".
Ford has insisted that it practices a policy of "zero tolerance" towards racism. But insiders say Dagenham is full of racist attitudes and compared it to a tinder box.
This week's show of anger is the latest incident to hit the plant where, for the past six months, union leaders have failed to persuade local managers to hold a joint inquiry into the implications for Dagenham of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry into institutional racism.
Shop stewards who led the walk-out in the paint, trim and assembly areas of the plant said they had lost confidence in local managers to resolve what they called the endemic problem of racism.
Angry union officials have accused the local managers of at best turning a blind eye to repeated incidences of racist abuse and bullying, and at worst of complicity.
Sir Ken Jackson, leader of the AEEU engineering union, said: "Race relations have improved at Ford over recent years, but there are still clear examples of outrageous abuse which Ford has signally failed to deal with."
In the worst case of racist intimidation, union officials say Sukhjit Parma, an engine plant worker, suffered a four-year campaign of racist abuse, culminating in threats to his life. Two weeks ago at an east London tribunal, Ford admitted racial discrimination, harassment and victimisation towards Mr Parma.
The Dagenham plant was known some 15 years ago to be a recruiting ground for the British National Party and other racist bodies, although union sources say they have no evidence of such activities.
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AEEU engineering union
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