Matt Rosoff Business Insider
They're hoping that if Apple can be convinced to let its employees unionize, then other companies in the region will follow its lead.
In an interview with Re/code's Nellie Bowles, United Service Workers West Vice President Samuel Kehinde states that "if Tim Cook said, 'yes, unionize,' other companies would follow."
To that end, the union has protested outside of Apple's store in downtown San Francisco and created a browser-based video game showing how difficult it is to live in Silicon Valley on a security officer's income.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (TXT), security guards in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland area earned $12.99 per hour on average in 2010.
While Apple continues to bring in billions of dollars in profits each quarter, Kehinde claims that the company is working against union efforts. He recalled the following scene to Re/code, which reads like something out of a thriller:
"Tech is harder to unionize than other industries. First of all, Silicon Valley is so spread out," Kehinde said. "And they're instructed by the companies not to talk to us."
"And they are always watching," he said. "The officers have microphones on their uniforms, and someone is always listening for us. I was in the parking lot of Outback Steakhouse in Cupertino with an Apple security guard, and in less than three minutes eight security cars ambushed us. We weren't even on Apple property. They're listening. It's kind of scary."
Apple has not responded to a request for comment on this story.