Wikipedia Workers Form a Union for the First Time
More than 200 Wikimedia Foundation employees voted to join the Communication Workers of America union, as the organization faces rising AI competition and declining reader traffic.
The US National Labor Relations Board counted ballots on Thursday in a union election at the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit behind Wikipedia. Staff voted 158-14 in favor of joining the Communication Workers of America. The San Francisco-based foundation, founded 25 years ago, employs nearly 700 people across 39 countries, mostly working remotely. Employees across software engineering, finance and communications are part of the new bargaining unit.
Workers say pay and benefits were not the main driver behind the organizing effort. Instead, frustration grew over how management explained a series of hiring and firing decisions over the past year. This included disbanding a team that built tools for volunteer editors, and removing France from the list of approved hiring locations for product and technology roles.
The foundation said it would approach the next phase constructively and lawfully, with care for staff. CEO Bernadette Meehan, who joined in January, called the unionization a new chapter and said she remains optimistic, pledging continued work on management practices and organizational planning.
Growing Pains
Workers had discussed unionizing on and off for a decade but had never previously held a formal election. Momentum built after the foundation expanded its staff significantly during the Covid pandemic, adding bureaucracy that left some employees feeling powerless.
The foundation remains financially strong, with an annual budget above $200 million and roughly $300 million in growing net assets. Still, AI companies increasingly scrape Wikipedia to train their models, pushing up server costs, while human traffic to Wikipedia articles is falling as more people turn to chatbots for information. Staff worry this trend could weaken volunteer contributions and content quality over time.
Seventy percent of eligible employees signed union cards, and the group partnered with CWA's Local 9415, which also represents workers at other nonprofits and telecom companies. The foundation declined to voluntarily recognize the union, arguing a vote was the more democratic path, though leadership stayed neutral during the process.
The next step is negotiating a collective bargaining agreement. Workers note the foundation hired law firm Littler Mendelson, known for opposing labor organizing, which some see as a sign management may resist. Expected union priorities include requiring just cause before firings, along with more ambitious proposals such as a four-day work week.
