US employees at the Wikimedia Foundation are joining unionization efforts, but management has declined voluntary recognition. The union drive follows a volunteer editor strike and tensions over layoffs.
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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In June, UK staff at the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia became the first to <a href="https://www.theverge.com/news/956237/wikipedia-wikimedia-foundation-staff-unionization-volunteer-editor-strike">announce their intentions to form a union</a>. Now, US-based employees at the Wikimedia Foundation are joining the union drive, but management at the nonprofit have declined to voluntarily recognize their union.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">"While the Wikimedia Foundation touts to the public that they plan to take a neutral stance in our organizing efforts, they have already proven that not to be the case behind the scenes," a press release sent by Communications Workers of America, with which Wiki Workers United is affiliated, <a href="https://cwa-union.org/news/releases/wiki-workers-united-uscwa-will-file-nlrb-election-after-wikimedia-foundation-declines">reads in part</a>. "When the Foundation rejected our request for voluntary r …</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/news/972182/wikipedia-wikimedia-foundation-union-editor-strike">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>
# The union drive at the Wikimedia Foundation is expanding
Source: [https://www.theverge.com/news/972182/wikipedia-wikimedia-foundation-union-editor-strike](https://www.theverge.com/news/972182/wikipedia-wikimedia-foundation-union-editor-strike)
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Mia Sato
is features writer with five years of experience covering the companies that shape technology and the people who use their tools\.
In June, UK staff at the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia became the first to[announce their intentions to form a union](https://www.theverge.com/news/956237/wikipedia-wikimedia-foundation-staff-unionization-volunteer-editor-strike)\. Now, US\-based employees at the Wikimedia Foundation are joining the union drive, but management at the nonprofit have declined to voluntarily recognize their union\.
“While the Wikimedia Foundation touts to the public that they plan to take a neutral stance in our organizing efforts, they have already proven that not to be the case behind the scenes,” a press release sent by Communications Workers of America, with which Wiki Workers United is affiliated,[reads in part](https://cwa-union.org/news/releases/wiki-workers-united-uscwa-will-file-nlrb-election-after-wikimedia-foundation-declines)\. “When the Foundation rejected our request for voluntary recognition this week, they immediately sent out to employees and the public statements couched in classic union\-busting rhetoric, rhetoric undoubtedly provided by outrageously expensive union\-avoidance law firms\. This insulting and wasteful use of Foundation resources is both an insult to Foundation employees and to the Free Knowledge Movement as a whole\.”
In a public statement, the foundation[said](https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2026/07/27/statement-cwa-recognition-request/)it believes a secret ballot election with the NLRB is the “appropriate path forward\.”
The unionization efforts come at a time when tensions are high between the foundation and the thousands of unpaid volunteers who edit, write, and maintain Wikipedia\. In May, hundreds of Wikipedia editors[threatened to go on strike](https://www.theverge.com/report/939442/wikipedia-editors-protest-wikimedia-layoffs-strike)after the foundation dissolved an engineering team that worked closely with volunteers\. Some volunteers questioned whether the layoffs were related to union efforts, which the foundation denied\.
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- Mia Sato
UK-based staff at the Wikimedia Foundation are seeking voluntary union recognition from management, citing concerns over transparency and direction after recent tensions including the disbanding of a key team.
Workers at the Wikimedia Foundation in the UK are seeking union recognition through the United Tech and Allied Workers, marking a global first for Wikipedia employees.
The article reports that the Wikimedia Foundation fired the longtime lead developer of MediaWiki and disbanded the Community Tech team, both actions targeting union organizers, prompting Wikipedia editors to threaten a strike in solidarity while the Foundation holds substantial financial reserves.
Hundreds of prolific Wikipedia editors are threatening to go on strike after the Wikimedia Foundation laid off its Community Tech team, leading to concerns about union-busting and diminished support for volunteers.
Wikipedia workers in Britain are seeking union recognition for the first time globally, requesting representation by the United Tech and Allied Workers section of the Communication Workers Union.