This week, the safety staff who stand guard exterior a few of Silicon Valley’s most deep-pocketed AI corporations determined they have been able to go on strike if obligatory.
The unionized staff, who’re represented by SEIU-United Service Staff West, are staffed at tech giants like OpenAI, Anthropic, Salesforce, and Google, the place they supply vital constructing safety. The union has been within the midst of negotiations with main safety contractors like Allied Common and Securitas; by voting to authorize a strike, the employees represented by SEIU-USWW have signaled that they’re keen to take motion if wanted.
On Wednesday, safety staff picketed in San Francisco, airing their grievances over pay negotiations which have successfully stalled. The union has reportedly pushed for a $30 minimal wage and expanded advantages. The union has said that after 19 bargaining periods, Allied Common has proposed a wage enhance of solely 25 cents an hour in 2027, with no raises for the following three years—a suggestion that SEIU-USWW president David Huerta has described as “shameful, fallacious, and deeply, deeply disrespectful.” In earlier demonstrations, the safety staff have talked about being unable to afford the excessive value of residing within the Bay Space.
As Enterprise Insider recently reported, Anthropic workers have been truly instructed to work at home final week in anticipation of a possible strike by unionized staff. (Anthropic reportedly has sturdy safety and communicates brazenly with workers when confronted with threats.) “Clearly, Anthropic understands how indispensable safety staff are, even when the businesses bargaining with them don’t,” Huerta told KQED final week.
These staff have grow to be important to many AI corporations lately, amid the rising antipathy to AI. Tech corporations have invested in better safety measures in response, as some tech workers—and particularly executives—have grow to be the goal of threats and even tried violence. (Excessive-profile executives like Sam Altman have confronted multiple attempted attacks in the previous few months.)
In keeping with The Wall Street Journal, cops in San Francisco have fielded a lot of threats in opposition to workers of OpenAI and Anthropic, and a few tech corporations have began investing in armed guards. Corporations like Palantir, Oracle, and Salesforce elevated their safety spending by thousands and thousands of {dollars} in 2025, per a WSJ evaluation.
It’s commonplace for ancillary staff who assist assist tech corporations—from janitors to cafeteria staff—to place stress on these employers once they face pushback throughout contract negotiations. In recent times, janitors in San Francisco have walked off the job in response to layoffs at Meta and Twitter, whereas meals service staff have protested over contract negotiations that had failed to supply significant raises.
As safety companies grow to be extra vital to AI corporations, safety staff might have much more leverage to enhance their working circumstances. As Huerta beforehand mentioned: “We invite staff at Anthropic and elsewhere to think about who will defend them if safety officers can’t afford to reside right here.”
