A 2016 UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education study found one-third of U.S. manufacturing workers relied on a government assistance program such as food stamps, and pay for manufacturing jobs lag behind non-manufacturing jobs.

“Accident rates are four times higher than they are anywhere in the country, and one-third of manufacturing workers now rely on government assistance like food stamps,” Blanc said, citing a study from the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

Management may attempt to use the stasis induced by its own stalling tactics as evidence that unions don’t benefit employees, said Danielle Mahones.

Despite these major expansions, an estimated 2.3 million Californians under 65 will remain uninsured, according to an April analysis by University of California researchers.

McAlevey is careful not to give the board too much credit: “Let’s just call the labor board fair right now…not pro-worker, not pro-employer. Just fair, which is all workers have ever needed.”