New York City warehouse workers who are part of the Amazon Labor Union overwhelmingly voted to align themselves with the Teamsters as they try to get a contract from the online retailer.

The ALU members voted 98.3% in favor of the affiliation, which will give them access to additional resources in their effort to bring Amazon to the bargaining table, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said Tuesday.

Amazon, which has disputed the 2022 election in which the ALU won the right to represent workers at a Staten Island warehouse, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Now that the labor group’s members have approved the affiliation deal, the ALU will essentially join the Teamsters as an “autonomous” local union with the same rights and duties as a standard chapter, according to a copy of the agreement that was seen by The Associated Press.

The approximately 5,500 Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island will be represented by a newly chartered ALU-International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 1.

It will have jurisdiction for Amazon warehouse workers across New York’s five boroughs and is expected to help with the Teamsters’ organizing efforts at other Amazon facilities outside its jurisdiction.

The agreement says at least three representatives of the local union will participate in “executive planning and strategy discussions” with the Teamsters division that focuses on organizing Amazon workers.

John Logan, a labor history professor at San Francisco State University, said teaming up with an established union was like a “lifeline” for the independent ALU because the group is “going nowhere at the moment.”

“Doing it independently is just so difficult when you’re up against a company like (Amazon), which is big, wealthy and is determined to defeat the union,” Logan said.