Just days after security officers won major improvements on the job from Apple, service workers and their allies marched through the heart of Silicon Valley to urge other tech companies to jump on board the movement for broad prosperity.
“Apple and Google's decision serves notice to the irresponsible security contractors who still deny workers a path to good union jobs,” said Michael Johnson, a security officer who works for Universal Protection Service in Silicon Valley. “We will not rest until every service worker in Silicon Valley has access to good-paying jobs that allow us to support our families.”
Security officers are asking tech companies to hire responsible contractors, who respect officers' freedom to form a union.
Despite touting a commitment to “help families in need,” Citrix Systems currently employs Universal Protection Service (UPS), a security contractor that denies many officers an opportunity to succeed, paying such low wages and benefits that many of its workers struggle to provide for their families.
“I’ve had to put off [medication] because of a lack of affordable healthcare insurance,” said security officer Hector Ortega, a 20-year veteran of the industry. “How am I supposed to provide for my 16-year old daughter when I’m risking my health? She deserves better.”
In recent months, security officers and bus drivers have won major victories with industry leaders like Google, Apple, and Facebook. Now the Silicon Valley security officers who are rising up to fix the imbalance in the economy are calling on Citrix—whose profits totaled over $330 million in 2013—to ensure all workers who contribute to the company’s success have good, family-supporting jobs.
Simply put, low pay just doesn’t work for the Valley.
“What happened to all the good jobs in Silicon Valley?” says Universal Protection Service security officer Norman Meeks. “I have to work two full-time security jobs just to afford the cost of living for my family.”