The State Employees Association of North Carolina voted to join the Service Employees International Union.

The SEANC convention, held in Greenville, included nearly 700 delegates representing about 55,000 members of the SEANC, and about 80 percent voted to join.

Dana Cope, executive director of SEANC, said, “This vote marks the largest union victory ever for working people across the South — especially in North Carolina, which previously had the lowest rate of unionization in the country.”

The partnership aims to lobby for better pay, health coverage and pension benefits for North Carolina state employees. SEIU has about 1.9 million members.