The AFL-CIO is declining, for now, to endorse either Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary.
The decision amounts to a big boost for Sanders, who faced the possibility of Clinton wrangling the formal backing of organized labor.
AFL-CIO leaders had been considering voting on an endorsement when they meet next week in San Diego, but AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka emailed members and alerted them it would not happen.
“Our Executive Council will discuss the 2016 election cycle during its Winter Meeting, but no presidential endorsement will be made,” Trumka said in a statement Wednesday. “From the very start of the presidential contest, we have been clear that we have an endorsement process in place, and that we will continue to follow that process in accordance with our Constitution.”
The Huffington Post first reported the union’s decision.
RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, which has endorsed Sanders, called the decision a victory for the Vermont senator.
Clinton and Sanders are locked in a tight battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, with Clinton winning a narrow victory in the Iowa caucuses and Sanders notching a landslide win in New Hampshire. The two face off in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday, where a new CNN/ORC poll found the two candidates in a virtual dead heat.