Wikipedia Workers in the UK Move to Unionise Amid Feud Over Sackings

Wikipedia workers in the UK have asked for formal union recognition amid union-busting allegations, with hundreds of volunteer editors signing a petition in solidarity with staff.

“Stop your bots, disable your edit filters if need be. Let the vandals in if that’s what it takes,” wrote one signatory to the volunteer petition. 

British-based employees at the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), the non-profit that hosts Wikipedia, formally requested their right to be represented by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) on Wednesday. Previously, they’d been organising under the banner Wiki Workers United (WWU).

Relations between the foundation and its employees and volunteers deteriorated last month, when the WMF declared its intentions to disband the Community Tech team – a key bridge between paid staff and Wikipedia’s thousands of volunteers, where the latter could ask for support.

Allegations soon emerged that the lay-offs were part of a union-busting attempt, as several members of the Tech team were central to the nascent in-house union. 

More than 1,100 volunteers have since issued a statement of solidarity with laid-off staffers, declaring they are willing to engage in “collective action if called upon by WWU, up to and including staging an editorial strike”.

John Chadfield, CWU’s national tech officer, said: “This is the first attempt of Wikimedia Foundation workers to seek voluntary recognition anywhere – a global first.

“Our union is proud to stand with these principled workers, who are initiating this process in the hope of creating a durable workplace grounded in transparency, accountability and participation across the WMF workforce. We urge the organisation to meet them in this spirit of good faith and co-operation.”

Whilst the WMF is headquartered in San Francisco, the UK is the second-largest home to its 2,500 employees after the US. 

The foundation told the Verge that the wishlist system run by the Community Tech team was beset by delays – and support would now be offered to volunteers through multiple, smaller teams. 

Chief of staff Nadee Gunasena added that the foundation would try to place six members of staff in other teams but they would be laid off if no positions were found. She rejected the idea that the workers had been fired over attempts to unionise. 

Volunteer contributor Femke Nijsse called for the Community Tech team to be reinstated. She said: “The wishlist has been broken for two, three years, and the response has not been to fix that, but to fire the people that are still making it sort of work.”