The collective bargaining action has been announced by the SEIU-United Service Workers West (SEIU-USWW), which represents approximately 14,000 security specialists across Los Angeles County, Silicon Valley and the broader San Francisco Bay Area. Unionised security officers tasked with guarding the California headquarters and regional facilities of top tech giants, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta and Salesforce, have formally voted to authorise a strike to demand higher compensation and improved workplace benefits.
In a statement distributed through the union, Hayward-based Allied Universal guard Christopher Yates called on contractor leadership to negotiate in good faith: To signal their resolve, security guards marched through downtown San Francisco on Wednesday (September 2), passing directly near the corporate campuses of both Anthropic and OpenAI. labor representatives have not confirmed an exact walkout date or whether an outright work stoppage is inevitable While the union has officially approved an unfair-labor-practice strike. In one high-profile incident in April, law enforcement officials reported that an explosive Molotov cocktail was hurled directly into the private residence of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman , who subsequently pointed to heightened anti-AI rhetoric as a likely factor behind the violent assault.
The affected guards work for third-party staffing contractors, primarily Allied Universal, GardaWorld and Securitas, that provide daily physical defense and building access control for Silicon Valley’s largest corporate facilities, according to a report by the New York Post. Anticipating labor unrest, Anthropic instructed its San Francisco workforce to work remotely last week over expectations of an imminent walkout by Allied Universal security guards. The potential walkout arrives as physical security risks around AI companies reach new highs, forcing tech firms to significantly upgrade on-site protective measures. Both Anthropic and OpenAI have faced multiple direct threats aimed at their staff members.