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Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost | 2026-08-02
Foundation rejects voluntary recognition of union, proposed board eligibility rules sharply restrict candidates: Further: harassment allegations at Wikimania, and new RfC for Abstract Wikipedia.
← Back to Contents<br>View Latest Issue<br>2 August 2026
File:Question for Bernadette Meehan regarding the WMF's recognition of Wiki Workers United.jpg<br>Wikimedia Foundation<br>CC BY 4.0<br>59<br>418
News and notes<br>Foundation rejects voluntary recognition of union, proposed board eligibility rules sharply restrict candidates<br>Contribute —<br>Share this
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By Andreas Kolbe, Czarking0, Mitchsavl and Bri
Wikimedia Foundation refuses voluntary union recognition, hires union-busting law firm
Bernadette Meehan answers question on Wiki Workers United U.S.'s request for voluntary recognition at Wikimania in Paris
On July 20, Wiki Workers United U.S. demanded voluntary recognition as a union from the Wikimedia Foundation, following a similar request for voluntary recognition made by WWU-UK, the UK branch of WWU, in June. The request by Wiki Workers United U.S. demanded a response from the Wikimedia Foundation by Friday, July 24, i.e. during the Wikimania conference. No response was received by that date, though the topic of Wikimedia staffers unionizing was discussed at the conference (see video on the right).
On July 27, the WMF published a statement declining voluntary recognition of Wiki Workers United U.S.
The Wiki Workers United logo
The statement said:
[W]e believe a secret-ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board is the appropriate path forward. This process protects individual choice and ensures that any outcome reflects the collective will of those eligible to participate.
The community response to the WMF statement has mostly been one of dismay, with fears that the Foundation will use the time gap between now and the secret ballot to discourage employees from union involvement, using union busting methods as described humorously in an episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. A community petition to the WMF Board to recognize the union has been started on Meta-Wiki; as we were getting ready to publish this issue, it had passed 150 signatures. Two prior community petitions in support of the union, started in May 2026 on Meta-Wiki and on English Wikipedia, have attracted well over 1,200 signatures each.
Jimmy Wales said on the Wikimedia-l mailing list that he had looked into the process followed by WWU, which had resulted in a supermajority of employees signing a union card, and thought it imperfect:
One of the problems with the process so far is that it was not secret and we have heard from some staff members that they felt pressured because the organizers would know how they decided. That isn't a great process and it goes against our movement's values quite badly to have people in a situation where they are pressured into something one way or the other.
It's pretty easy to see the problem if we imagine it in the other direction - imagine some company asking staff to sign pledge cards not to join a union, and keeping track of who did or didn't in order to put pressure on those who didn't. Gross. It doesn't make it better for it to be the other way around in my own personal view.
I want a process where staff are safe to deliberate in the privacy of their own minds and make the decision based on all the available evidence that makes the most sense to them. So I don't think insisting on a proper vote is process for the sake of process and I say that with my own estimate that the staff will vote to support unionization. I think we'll be in a better place if it's really clear - a clean and clear choice with no chance of pressure.
In terms of time, energy, and money - I don't think it should take very long and again speaking only for myself I hope we get it done as quickly and efficiently as we can and I hope that everyone - staff, management, board, and community can come together to celebrate the outcome. I know I will.
WWU announced on 28 July that they would file for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board. The announcement also accused the Wikimedia Foundation of being disingenuous in their public communications:
Thousands of workers across the tech and nonprofit sectors have achieved voluntary recognition through this "card check" method. Our demand of the Wikimedia Foundation was simply that they live up to their values and be the high-road employer that they purport to be. They refused.
While the Wikimedia Foundation touts to the public that they plan to take a neutral stance in our organizing efforts, they have already proven...