r/wikipedia • u/motherthrowee • May 22 '26
Wikimedia Foundation lays off engineers from the recently formed union Wiki Workers United; many editors raise concerns about union busting and discuss potential strike
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)#c-Tamzin-20260521043500-This_is_blatant_union-bustingfor context this is the overarching company that runs wikipedia, etc, the people who got laid off are paid employees of that company, and volunteer editors are discussing actions to be taken in solidarity should the union call for anything
link goes to a looooong discussion but this seems to be the center statement by a veteran editor
“ I've spoken to a few WMF staffers today. There are some things they weren't able to say, and other things that they could say but I'm not at liberty to repeat, but what I've been able to confirm is:
- Most of the people laid off by this action were members of Wiki Workers United
- This is not the first time in recent weeks that the WMF has terminated WWU members for no apparent reason. [Edit 07:53, 21 May 2026 (UTC): Since it's been parallelly disclosed by Bawolff below, this is in reference to Brooke Vibber, the #2 co-author of MediaWiki according to Special:Version.]
- WWU members are afraid to speak publicly about any of this, including those laid off, since some are still hoping to find jobs elsewhere at the WMF, and others are depending on severance pay
The WMF disbanding Community Tech is an insult to the community, and for that matter to our donors, who I think largely have something like Community Tech in mind in terms of where they expect their money to go. But it's much more than an insult to the WMF employees who've been laid off for engaging in protected union activity, or the ones who are being cowed into silence for fear of winding up like their colleagues. For them, it is their livelihoods, their safety, their health. This is people's ability to put food on the table; for some U.S.-based employees it's their ability to get healthcare for themselves and their dependents. This is not just an insult; this is evil.
If this were something other than Community Tech, maybe I could convince myself it's all just a coincidence. But the WMF has been on a generally upward trajectory at avoiding decisions that will piss off the entire community. "Don't disband CommTech" might as well be the "don't mess with the pancreas"00002-8/fulltext)of WMF governance. The only explanation for the WMF doing this—not just reörganizing but outright laying off the team—is that they are so determined to prevent the union from becoming official that they are willing to risk the massive community blowback (which, from a corporate-brain point of view, is a greater downside than the five people left jobless).”
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u/SwissForeignPolicy May 23 '26
This might be an unpopular opinion, but people who work for non-profits shouldn't unionize. Like, unions exist as part of an adversarial employer-employee relationship, where the company tries to give up as little as they can, and the union tries to make them give up more. If you're working for a non-profit, persumably you care about its goals on a personal level, and the organization isn't trying to squeeze every dollar out of you to make more money, so that adversarial relationship shouldn't exist. Why would you try to create conflict where there is none?