Hundreds of prolific Wikipedia editors are threatening to go on strike The Wikimedia Foundation disbanded its Community Tech team, which developed essential tools for Wikipedia volunteers, leading to widespread anger and accusations of anti-union sentiment. Volunteers are discussing potential actions, including a strike, to push back against the decision and demand changes to how community requests are handled. The foundation maintains the restructuring is to address bottlenecks and denies any connection to union activities.

• The Wikimedia Foundation disbanded the Community Tech team, composed of engineers and a manager who developed tools for Wikipedia volunteers.
• Volunteers are angry, demanding the team’s reinstatement and suspect the move is retaliation for unionization efforts.
• The foundation states the disbandment is a restructuring to eliminate bottlenecks and improve efficiency by distributing the work among multiple teams.
• A petition supporting a potential strike has been signed by over 700 editors.
• Potential strike actions could include ceasing all non-essential edits, impacting content updates and potentially disrupting Wikipedia’s role as a source for AI tools. Continue reading https://www.theverge.com/report/939442/wikipedia-editors-protest-wikimedia-layoffs-strike