Wikimedia Foundation fires union organizers, disbands community team
Original: Big tech's anti-labor playbook has come for Wikipedia
Why This Matters
First major labor dispute at Wikipedia threatens platform stability and sets precedent for tech worker organizing
Wikimedia Foundation fired MediaWiki lead developer Brooke Vibber and disbanded its Community Tech team in May, targeting union organizers. Wikipedia editors are organizing solidarity strikes. Foundation holds $296M in reserves and $8.3M in AI revenue.
In May, Wikimedia Foundation fired Brooke Vibber, MediaWiki's lead developer since 2003 and the organization's first CTO, who was also a union organizer. The Foundation then disbanded the six-person Community Tech team, which built features requested by Wikipedia editors through the Community Wishlist. Most fired engineers were union organizers. Wikipedia editors responded by organizing solidarity strikes, with administrators threatening to resign and bot operators offering to disable anti-vandalism filters. The Foundation holds $296.6 million in reserves and recently achieved profitability in its Wikimedia Enterprise division, which provides AI companies API access for $8.3 million annually, up 148% from last year. General Counsel Stephen LaPorte stated the Foundation respects unionization rights.