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Comment by alephnerd | Hacker News Reader

Ik the building intimately - it's not Anthroptic but the building's security company (which Anthropic does not own and is subleasing). SEIU is working to organize Allied Universal in California.

Support SEIU organizing them (their fighting the good fight in this case), but this specific article is clickbait.

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So you go to the building owner and say, "give them what they want or we walk." Security team probably doesn't want outrageous changes. Building owner probably just being greedy.

You can't in most cases. These buildings are owned by larger conglomerates and are out of scope of landlord-leasee negotiations especially as it's a sublease.

Allied United is one of the larger security augmentation firms in the nation, which makes is harder. For example, my Alma mater was secured by Allied Universal as well as a dedicated PD because the dedicated PD didn't want to be bag check for a library when they have been dealing with real crime (eg. A comrade in their sister PD across town's was shot by the Boston marathon bombers).

So Anthropic, because they don't own the building, is unable to solve this by throwing money at it? I find that amusing.

Except they can. Anthropic could just hire their own security for when the other guys go on strike.

Contractually, you cannot depending on the sublease, which is between the original owner (a F500) and I think JLL or CBRE, and even then is specifically veteeen JLL and Allied Universal.

Anthropic is anyhow leaving this specific building.

When I worked at a building in SF (where we leased, exactly like this situation) and SEIU demonstrated in front of the building, we were told to consider staying home just because we'd have to walk through the picket line.

It wasn't anything to do with whether we could have gotten our own (e.g.) security.

Exactly. And honestly, most of us in white collar industries and managerial roles are aligned with SEIU organizing Allied Universal - their "security guards" are undertrained, underpaid, and are basically left to fend for themselves by AU. They absolutely need to be unionized.

You absolutely can call them and make it clear that their playing games is causing you reputation damage ahead of an IPO — so you need that fixed.

A large conglomerate isn’t interested in pissing off a client because their subcontractor has a middle-manager playing fuck-fuck games with a union. That’s exactly the sort of business situation that executive communication can fix.

The only relation Allied Universial employees and Anthropic has is that Anthropic is temporarily subleasing this specific office in Rincon Hill from another F500 before moving to nicer digs a couple blocks down, and that F500 has a contract with Allied Universal.

Like HOW HARD is this to get for everyone on here?!? When you take out a temporary sublease, what the management company's vendors do completely outside your negotiating scope.

All this is showing is further proof that almost no one on HN is from the Bay anymore.

There is a human who is negotiating against the union. Anthropic can find that human and apply leverage.

This isn't a Cyberpunk campaign book, their emails wouldn't be answered.

As I understand it, this union negotiation isn't with a single building, it's with multiple large staffing firms across California

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