Just a moment...
medium.com

In ten days last month, the Wikimedia Foundation fired the longtime lead developer of MediaWiki and disbanded the team whose entire job was to listen to volunteers. Most of the people they fired were union organizers. Wikipedia’s editors are now threatening to strike in solidarity. The Foundation is sitting on $296 million in reserves and a freshly profitable AI revenue stream. This is a confrontation with global implications.

    • Reyali@lemmy.world
      381·
      8 days ago

      I decided to cancel my recurring donation, citing these actions as why.

      Here’s the email I wrote:

      I would like to cancel my recurring donation in response to Wikimedia’s decision to fire Brooke Vibber and the Community Tech team. I love Wikipedia, but I have concerns around the anti-union and anti-community actions that are happening under the current leadership. I will not in good conscience continue to support a “nonprofit” organization that is following the big tech/Silicon Valley anti-labor playbook.

      1. The type of change you would like to make to your donation - cancel
      2. The email address that was used when the donation was made - [redacted]
      3. The full name used - [redacted]
      4. The amount and currency of the donation - $20 USD recurring monthly

      I hope the Wikimedia Foundation rethinks its approach to the community and its workers, and establishes practices of transparency.

      Thank you,

      Not that I think my $240/year is going to make or break them, but maybe if they hear this from other donors they’ll rethink their choices.

      • kobra@lemmy.zip
        10·
        8 days ago

        I wish I was already a donor so I could send this email. First time I’ve felt regret like this, I should be more proactive about supporting things like this in the future. Thanks for sharing.

        • Reyali@lemmy.world
          6·
          8 days ago

          It took me a long time and some kicks in the butt to make some of my donations recurring. Like I decided to give recurring donations to Wikimedia and the Internet Archive a few years back when Elon was attacking both of them. I’d given as one-offs when Wikipedia would prompt for donations, but was proud to make it a recurring thing.

      • MajorHavoc@programming.dev
        5·
        8 days ago

        I’ve done the same. This sucks, but I didn’t realize I was donating to an organization without a workers union agreement in place.