Security workers guarding the California offices of tech companies like Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI are planning to strike this week.
The security officers submitted a 72-hour strike notice on Tuesday morning, planning to skip any shift that begins on or after 4:30 a.m. on Friday. The union, SEIU-UWW, said that the officers guard major companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, and Nvidia.
A strike could lead to office closures and spark work-from-home orders, though Bay Area tech companies have not announced any yet. Anthropic told San Francisco staff in late August to work remotely for two days after hearing from its security staffing firm, Allied Universal, that security teams might strike, Business Insider reported.
The strike notice arrives at a tense moment for the AI industry, particularly Anthropic. Last week, researcher Jacob Coxon announced that he was leaving Anthropic, writing that the race for superintelligent AI amounts to “gambling with our lives” and that “no other human activity poses this level of danger.” His post on X sparked a torrent of debate on AI’s safety.
The security companies have struggled to reach a new contract with the SEIU-UWW union, which represents roughly 14,000 security officers in the state. As of Tuesday, a strike isn’t guaranteed.
An SEIU-UWW spokesperson told Business Insider that the union and the security companies are holding bargaining sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. The security staffing firms include Allied, Securitas, GardaWorld, and several others.
Negotiations over a master contract have dragged on for months, with security officers seeking higher wages, better healthcare, and more comprehensive job training.
On Tuesday, the union planned to march through downtown San Francisco to Salesforce Tower, per the press release. Security workers first announced that they’d authorized this strike at a San Francisco rally on September 3.
“We’re asking Allied and the other security companies to stop playing games, come to the table, and settle a strong contract with real raises, better training, and respect for the officers who keep these buildings safe,” Christopher Yates, an Allied Universal security officer who lives in Hayward, told Business Insider in an emailed statement at the time.
Meta declined to comment. Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Nvidia did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
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