Jane McAlevey, a policy fellow at the University of California Berkeley Labor Center, has worked as a union organiser and negotiator. She said that workers should not expect companies to go along with efforts to build labour power.

“This is a really important battle. We’ll see it spread to other industries. It’s not just an issue in California. It has huge implications for labour – more of a race to the bottom by taking away worker protections through outsourcing and subcontracting.”