DETROIT » Ford workers narrowly approved a new four-year contract, wrapping up five months of negotiations between the United Auto Workers union and Detroit automakers.

The UAW said late Friday that Ford’s contract passed with a 51.4 percent vote. The agreement covers 53,000 U.S. hourly workers at 22 plants.

Union leaders held a press conference earlier this week to push for the Ford agreement when they feared workers would reject it. Some workers said the union didn’t push hard enough to win back things they lost in previous agreements, including annual wage increases.

But union leaders warned that they might not get a better deal from Ford if workers rejected the agreement and sent them back to the bargaining table.

Seat belt flaw prompts recall of 90K Tesla Model S sedans

PALO ALTO, Calif. » Tesla Motors on Friday issued a voluntary recall of nearly 90,000 Model S electric sedans after one driver reported a faulty front seat belt.

The luxury automaker emailed Model S owners to say it received a complaint recently from an owner in Europe, and were issuing a voluntary safety check to address possible malfunctions. The seat belt has not been the source of any injuries, the company said.

Palo Alto-based Tesla has earned solid ratings for its vehicle safety features. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has given the Model S its highest rating — 5-stars — for overall safety annually since 2013.

However, Consumer Reports magazine last month downgraded the overall reliability rating of the Model S, citing repair issues with early vehicles. The problems ranged from body rattles to drive train and power equipment repairs. CEO Elon Musk said this month many of those problems have been fixed.

The latest recall is to address a front seat belt that may be improperly secured, according to the company email. The rear seat belts are not a concern.

The company found the problem in one vehicle in Europe and checked more than 3,000 other vehicles for the same problem.

“This is the only customer vehicle we know of with this condition,” the company said.

Expedia lays off employees following Orbitz acquisition

SEATTLE » Expedia has laid off an undisclosed number of employees in the wake of its acquisition of onetime rival Orbitz.

Expedia said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last week that employees will be cut from Chicago-based Orbitz as part of a restructuring resulting from a merger of the two companies.

Expedia, based outside Seattle, in Bellevue, announced its proposal to buy Orbitz for $1.6 billion in February, continuing an acquisition spree in which the company has snapped up smaller travel companies. The deal closed in September.

Expedia expects severance and benefits costs from the layoffs to total between $130 million and $150 million. Much of that, $70 million, was recorded in Expedia’s third quarter financial report last month.

Coming Up

» Today: National Association of Realtors releases existing home sales for October.

» Tuesday: Commerce Department releases third-quarter gross domestic product; Standard & Poor’s releases S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices for September and the third quarter; The Conference Board releases the Consumer Confidence Index for November.

» Wednesday: Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims. Commerce Department releases durable goods, new home sales and personal income and spending for October.

» Thursday: Financial markets close for Thanksgiving.

» Friday: Financial markets close early.

Ship Ahoy!

Today’s ship arrivals and departures: