“For families on the edge, when you’re just really living on a tight margin and then you get hit with a surprise fee, things can wind up cascading really, really quickly,” Nari Rhee said. “Putting a stop to that with access to these accounts I think can make a real difference.”

The wage hike is expected to benefit an estimated 469,000 employees, including people who make slightly more than $25 but who would likely get a corresponding pay increase, according to an analysis by UC Berkeley’s Labor Center.

The UC Berkeley Labor Center anticipates more than one-quarter of undocumented immigrants under age 65 will remain without coverage.

“We’re going to need a lot more strikes to reset the power structure,” Jane McAlevey said. “The workers who are harder to replace need to show their solidarity to the workers who are easier to be replaced in this society.”

A study released today by the UCLA and UC Berkeley Labor Centers highlights difficult working conditions in L.A. County’s fast food sector, which employs nearly 150,000 workers.

According to a recent UC Berkeley Labor Center analysis, 48% of black workers in California are now employed in a front-line job deemed “essential.” This category includes food prep workers, personal care aides and material movers.