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Wikimedia Foundation refuses voluntary union recognition, hires union-busting law firm (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 3 weeks ago* by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 84 points 3 weeks ago* (3 children)

God dammit, this is like the moment the Titanic first hit the iceberg. No matter how this labor issue is resolved, it will permanently demonize Wikimedia. No matter how valuable Wikipedia is or has ever been, current culture provides no foregiveness or path of redemption after an ethical transgression. Again, dammit, I love Wikipedia and have been donating steadily for years.

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  • [–] 52 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    Let's not say never. Because they can course correct but it has to be hard pivot:

    • immediately recognize the union
    • in the same statement, provide a path for every other employee to form a union and guarantee that if formation passes, that they will immediately recognize it
    • commit whatever amount they were going to pay their union busting attorneys plus 25% towards helping other unionizing efforts across the tech industry
    • provide free legal services for unions at other companies to help them get recognized

    The fact that Wikimedia foundation chose profits over people is absolutely disgusting.

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  • [–] 21 points 3 weeks ago

    Yeah I'm probably never donating again after this. Why even bother arguing with the current US administration when the foundation is just going to copy all the bullshit the administration is pushing anyway...like, congratulations now literally everybody is pissed at your service.

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  • [–] 17 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    You really don’t need to donate to them. Wikipedia has enough money to run itself indefinitely. The foundation just keeps growing and wasting money on non-Wikipedia stuff.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    Curious, what does Wikimedia actually invest in besides Wikipedia? It's still a non-profit, right?

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  • [–] 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    As of June 30th, 2025 (this years report is pending), Wikimedia has $213 million invested in corporate bonds, stocks, mutual funds, mortgage-based and US Treasury securities. This is about a $30 million uptick from 2024:

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/3/3f/Wikimedia_Foundation_FY_24-25_Audit_Report.pdf

    1000124917

    Meanwhile, their actual hosting expenses sit at $3,5 million. Should they cut benefits and grants, they can last indefinitely on their assets appreciation alone.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago

    Wow. So Wikimedia is really just a small hedge fund that happens to run the servers for an encyclopedia on the side. I had a hunch they spent a lot more on other non-wikipedia stuff, but for hosting to cost almost 2% of what they invest is eye opening. And makes it all the more petty that they can't pay their labor. Especially since so much labor is in fact volunteer work.

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