Coventry, England --

Workers at Ford Motor Co.'s Jaguar unit have voted against striking in protest of the company's plans to sharply cut employment at a key factory, unions announced yesterday. Fifty-five per cent of workers voted against strikes, in a ballot that drew participation by 77 per cent of the 1,300 eligible employees. The Transport and General Workers Union, Amicus and the GMB union had urged strikes to protest the end of most production work at Coventry. Hundreds of workers joined a march in Coventry two weeks ago to protest the company's decision to end production at the Browns Lane factory, with 400 voluntary retirements and 425 jobs moved to the Castle Bromwich factory in Birmingham. Jaguar will continue to employ about 300 people in Coventry making wood trim. Jaguar will also lose 750 mostly white-collar staff as office work is merged with another Ford subsidiary, Land Rover. F (NYSE) closed up 1 cent (U.S.) at $14.23. AP