This week, the security workers who stand guard outside some of Silicon Valley’s most deep-pocketed AI companies decided they were ready to go on strike if necessary.
The unionized workers, who are represented by SEIU-United Service Workers West, are staffed at tech giants like OpenAI, Anthropic, Salesforce, and Google, where they provide critical building security. The union has been in the midst of negotiations with major security contractors like Allied Universal and Securitas; by voting to authorize a strike, the workers represented by SEIU-USWW have signaled that they’re willing to strike if needed.
On Wednesday, security workers picketed in San Francisco, airing their grievances over pay negotiations that have effectively stalled. The union has reportedly pushed for a $30 minimum wage and expanded benefits. The union has said that after 19 bargaining sessions, Allied Universal has proposed a wage increase of only 25 cents an hour in 2027, with no raises for the next three years—an offer that SEIU-USWW president David Huerta has described as “shameful, wrong, and deeply, deeply disrespectful.” In previous demonstrations, the security workers have talked about being unable to afford the high cost of living in the Bay Area.
As Business Insider recently reported, Anthropic employees were actually instructed to work from home last week in anticipation of a potential strike by unionized workers. (Anthropic reportedly has robust security and communicates openly with employees when faced with threats.) “Clearly Anthropic understands how indispensable security workers are, even if the companies bargaining with them don’t,” Huerta told KQED last week.
These workers have become essential to many AI companies in recent years, amid the growing antipathy to AI. Tech companies have invested in greater security measures in response, as some tech employees—and especially executives—have become the target of threats and even attempted violence. (High-profile executives like Sam Altman have faced multiple attempted attacks in the last few months.)
According to the Wall Street Journal, police officers in San Francisco have fielded a number of threats against employees of OpenAI and Anthropic, and some tech companies have started investing in armed guards. Companies like Palantir, Oracle, and Salesforce increased their security spending by millions of dollars in 2025, per a WSJ analysis.
It’s not unusual for ancillary workers who help support tech companies—from janitors to cafeteria workers—to put pressure on those employers when they face pushback during contract negotiations. In recent years, janitors in San Francisco have walked off the job in response to layoffs at Meta and Twitter, while food service workers have protested over contract negotiations that had failed to produce meaningful raises.
As security services become more critical to AI companies, security workers may have even more leverage to improve their working conditions. As Huerta previously said: “We invite workers at Anthropic and elsewhere to consider who will protect them if security officers can’t afford to live here.”
