Wikipedia editors threaten strike over Wikimedia Foundation restructuring

Hundreds of prolific Wikipedia volunteers are discussing a potential strike in protest of the Wikimedia Foundation’s decision to disband its Community Tech team. The move, announced on May 20, has sparked anger among editors who suspect the layoffs are an attempt to undermine unionisation efforts by staff group Wiki Workers United. A petition signed by over 700 editors calls for collective action, including potential work stoppages such as halting routine moderation or blocking donation banners, if the union requests it. The Wikimedia Foundation denies union-busting, stating the restructuring aims to resolve bottlenecks in fulfilling community feature requests.

The Wikimedia Foundation announced on May 20 the dissolution of its six-person Community Tech team, citing internal assessments from September 2025 that identified bottlenecks in fulfilling community feature requests. The restructuring plan involves distributing the team’s work among multiple departments and attempting to place the affected employees in other roles, with layoffs scheduled for the following month if no positions are found. This decision has triggered a response from the staff union, Wiki Workers United, and over 700 Wikipedia editors who have signed a petition calling for collective action.

Editors suspect the move is an attempt to undermine unionisation efforts, although the Wikimedia Foundation denies this, stating the restructuring aims to resolve operational inefficiencies. Nadee Gunasena, chief of staff at the Wikimedia Foundation, confirmed the foundation respects staff rights to vote on union representation and would negotiate in good faith if a majority vote in favour. Co-founder Jimmy Wales has engaged with contributors to reassure them that dedicated staff will continue to address community needs.

Proposed strike actions include halting routine moderation, blocking donation banners, and ceasing all activity except for removing egregious abuse. The Wikimedia Foundation acknowledged that the previous centralized system for handling community requests was not working perfectly and had led to frequent delays. Volunteers did not find assurances from leadership comforting, with some describing the breakup as a pattern of neglecting community-facing teams.

The relationship between the Wikimedia Foundation and the volunteers that maintain Wikipedia had been improving consistently, until the layoffs. Now, contributors say it feels like the relationship is moving in the opposite direction. The version of a strike proposed by volunteer editor Tamzin Hadasa Kelly would call on editors to cease any activity on Wikipedia other than to remove the most egregious examples of abuse, like the posting of personal information, harassment, or adding fabricated and unsourced information about living people.

Routine vandalism, spam, errant sentences, and other less urgent rule-breaking would go unmoderated. Pages might go blank, or quickly become outdated, says Femke Nijsse, a volunteer contributor. The effects of any kind of work stoppage could be profound, given how much weight the site carries on an internet filled with sludge. Wikipedia is also a major source for AI tools like Google’s AI Overviews or ChatGPT. If Wikipedia breaks, the internet breaks — and Wikipedia needs the unpaid editors, whose anger is quickly mounting.

There will be no Wikipedia. It will quickly deteriorate if even a critical mass of volunteers stop working, says another former Wikimedia Foundation employee. That would be a disaster, not for Wikipedia, but for humanity.