Security guards working for Silicon Valley’s AI giants could go on strike as soon as union leaders call for it.

Sep 2, 2026

Updated 5:16 pm PT

Supervisor Connie Chan speaks at a Sept. 2, 2026, press conference at Mechanics Monument Plaza in San Francisco’s Financial District. She announced that union security officers from across San Francisco and Silicon Valley voted in favor of an Unfair Labor Practice strike authorization. (Nina Glick/KQED)

The security workers who guard tech companies and other offices across San Francisco took a step toward a walkout Wednesday.

Amid months of negotiations with massive contractors like Allied Universal and Securitas, members of the Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West, the union that represents some security workers, voted to authorize a strike in response to unfair labor practices.

As drums pounded and workers chanted at the Mechanic Monument Plaza in downtown San Francisco on Wednesday, David Huerta, president of SEIU-USWW, called for improved benefits and a $30 minimum wage. This is more than what the private companies are offering in negotiations, he said.

SEIU-USWW President David Huerta speaks at a press conference announcing that union security officers from across San Francisco and Silicon Valley voted in favor of an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike authorization at Mechanics Monument Plaza in San Francisco’s Financial District on Sept. 2, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)

Jerry Longoria, who works as a security officer at Cartier on behalf of Allied Universal, wears an SEIU-USWW pin at a Sept. 2, 2026, press conference at Mechanics Monument Plaza in San Francisco’s Financial District. The union representing union security officers from across San Francisco and Silicon Valley voted in favor of an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike authorization.

An advocate holds a sign during a Sept. 2, 2026, press conference at Mechanics Monument Plaza in San Francisco’s Financial District. Security officers represented by the union from across San Francisco and Silicon Valley voted in favor of an Unfair Labor Practice strike authorization.

“Who can survive with $22 an hour in San Francisco?” Huerta asked as members of the crowd shouted, “Shame.”

Allied Universal declined to comment on ongoing labor negotiations. 

Tejinder Singh, a security officer at Google and bargaining committee member, said that the union and the security giants have their last round of negotiations Wednesday, and that officers are ready to strike if the companies do not agree to their demands.

A security officer chants during a Sept. 2, 2026, press conference at Mechanics Monument Plaza in San Francisco’s Financial District, where the union representing security officers from across San Francisco and Silicon Valley voted in favor of an Unfair Labor Practice strike authorization. (Nina Glick/KQED)

Anthropic and the other tech companies did not respond to KQED’s request for comment in time for publication. 

Private contractors like Allied Universal and Securitas also provide guards for hospitals, transit agencies and other offices — including KQED.

“We are prepared, if necessary, to do what labor has the ultimate power to do,” Huerta said. 

KQED’s Nastia Voynovskaya contributed to this report.