Fellow Wikimedians,
Many of you have likely already seen the Wikimedia Foundation's announcement that the Community Tech team is being dissolved and that five engineers and one manager are losing their roles as part of a restructuring of the Community Wishlist process.
The official explanation is that Community Tech will become a cross-team "program" rather than a dedicated team, and that this model will supposedly allow more teams to work on community wishes. However, many editors, functionaries, and technical contributors across Wikimedia projects have raised serious concerns about both the substance and timing of this decision.
Several issues are driving alarm within the community:
• The Community Tech team was one of the few WMF engineering groups explicitly focused on community-requested technical work. • The engineers affected include highly experienced contributors with deep institutional and community knowledge, including former stewards and longtime technical volunteers. • WMF leadership has stated that this is not a budget reduction, which raises the question of why layoffs were necessary at all instead of reassignment. • The restructuring was announced amid ongoing organizing efforts connected to Wiki Workers United (WWU), leading many contributors to fear retaliation or union-busting behavior, regardless of WMF denials. • There is currently little concrete information about accountability, staffing, or ownership under the new “program” structure.
This is no longer being viewed by many contributors as merely an internal staffing change. It is increasingly seen as part of a broader pattern of disconnect between WMF leadership and the volunteer communities that build and maintain Wikimedia projects.
In response, editors have begun organizing solidarity actions and a strike mandate petition expressing willingness to support Wiki Workers United if collective action becomes necessary.
The petition is not itself a strike. It is a statement that contributors are prepared to stand in solidarity with Wikimedia workers and defend community accountability if requested.
You can read the ongoing discussions here:
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https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Wishlist#May_20_update
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If you are concerned about:
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the future of community-driven technical development,
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the treatment of Wikimedia staff,
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possible anti-union retaliation,
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or the growing disconnect between WMF leadership and the editing community,
please consider joining the discussion, spreading awareness, and signing the solidarity petition.
Take action: https://wikiworkersunited.org/take-action-community/ Sign the petition: https://w.wiki/Nt5n
In solidarity, Nemoralis