Unions?
You bet, there are more unionized government employees in CA than exists in private sector CA...
Like much of the U.S. now, Californians are forced to pay the salaries and gold plated benefits/pensions for these union members.
Here in suburban Charlotte, we often run into retired government employees from Up North, people who retired in their 50s with generous pensions and full medical coverage.
Unfortunately for us, they tend to continue voting Democrat.
And when they cry about needing more money or they will have to lay off teachers and police officers, it’s because they need more money to pay pensions. I used to work for a PEU in CA, an eye opening experience.