Thousands of security workers for Big Tech companies are on strike in California

Security officers at some of the most prominent tech companies in Silicon Valley have been poised to walk off the job after voting to authorize a strike earlier this month. The workers have been in talks with major security contractors like Securitas and Allied Universal for months as they seek to reach a new contract agreement. Now 14,000 security officers represented by SEIU-United Service Workers West are striking across California as contract negotiations have stalled. The union members took to the streets in San Francisco and Los Angeles at 4:30 a.m. local time on Friday to push for meaningful wage increases and better benefits. The SEIU-USWW campaign has highlighted the gulf between hourly pay for security workers and the deep coffers of the tech giants who use their services. While the workers are technically employed by third-party contractors, the union has said they provide building security for companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Salesforce, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, Cisco, and Netflix; they also serve plenty of other employers, from hospitals to retailers. According to the union, some of the security contractors have proposed a mere $0.65 raise in hourly p…