Wikimedia Foundation refuses union recognition, hires union-busting law firm
Wikimedia Foundation refuses union recognition, hires union-busting law firm
维基媒体基金会拒绝承认工会，并聘请反工会律师事务所
On July 20, Wiki Workers United U.S. demanded voluntary recognition as a union from the Wikimedia Foundation, following a similar request for voluntary recognition made by WWU-UK, the UK branch of WWU, in June. The request by Wiki Workers United U.S. demanded a response from the Wikimedia Foundation by Friday, July 24, i.e. during the Wikimania conference. No response was received by that date, though the topic of Wikimedia staffers unionizing was discussed at the conference.
7月20日，美国“维基工会联合会”（Wiki Workers United U.S.）要求维基媒体基金会（Wikimedia Foundation）自愿承认其工会地位。此前，该工会的英国分部（WWU-UK）已于6月提出了类似的自愿承认请求。美国维基工会联合会要求维基媒体基金会在7月24日（周五），即维基媒体国际会议（Wikimania）期间给予答复。截至该日期，基金会并未作出回应，尽管维基媒体员工工会化的话题在会议期间曾被讨论。
On July 27, the WMF published a statement declining voluntary recognition of Wiki Workers United U.S. The statement said: “[W]e believe a secret-ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board is the appropriate path forward. This process protects individual choice and ensures that any outcome reflects the collective will of those eligible to participate.”
7月27日，维基媒体基金会发表声明，拒绝自愿承认美国维基工会联合会。声明称：“我们认为，由美国国家劳资关系委员会（NLRB）主持的无记名投票选举是前进的正确途径。这一程序保护了个人选择权，并确保任何结果都能反映出所有有资格参与者的集体意愿。”
The community response to the WMF statement has mostly been one of dismay, with fears that the Foundation will use the time gap between now and the secret ballot to discourage employees from union involvement, using union busting methods as described humorously in an episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. A community petition to the WMF Board to recognize the union has been started on Meta-Wiki; as we were getting ready to publish this issue, it had passed 150 signatures.
社区对基金会声明的反应大多感到沮丧。人们担心基金会会利用从现在到无记名投票之间的这段时间，通过《约翰·奥利弗之一周新闻追追追》（Last Week Tonight with John Oliver）节目中曾幽默描述过的反工会手段，来阻挠员工参与工会。目前，Meta-Wiki上已发起了一项要求基金会理事会承认工会的社区请愿；截至本文发布前，该请愿已获得超过150个签名。
Jimmy Wales said on the Wikimedia-l mailing list that he had looked into the process followed by WWU, which had resulted in a supermajority of employees signing a union card, and thought it imperfect: “One of the problems with the process so far is that it was not secret and we have heard from some staff members that they felt pressured because the organizers would know how they decided. That isn’t a great process and it goes against our movement’s values quite badly to have people in a situation where they are pressured into something one way or the other.”
吉米·威尔士（Jimmy Wales）在Wikimedia-l邮件列表中表示，他研究了WWU所采用的流程（该流程促使绝大多数员工签署了工会卡），并认为其并不完善：“目前流程的问题之一是它并非秘密进行，我们从一些员工那里听说，他们感到压力，因为组织者会知道他们的决定。这不是一个好的流程，让人们处于被迫做出某种选择的境地，这严重违背了我们运动的价值观。”
WWU announced on 28 July that they would file for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board. The announcement also accused the Wikimedia Foundation of being disingenuous in their public communications: “Thousands of workers across the tech and nonprofit sectors have achieved voluntary recognition through this ‘card check’ method. Our demand of the Wikimedia Foundation was simply that they live up to their values and be the high-road employer that they purport to be. They refused.”
WWU于7月28日宣布，他们将向国家劳资关系委员会申请进行工会选举。该声明还指责维基媒体基金会在公开沟通中不够真诚：“科技和非营利领域的数千名员工通过这种‘工会卡核查’（card check）方式获得了自愿承认。我们对维基媒体基金会的要求仅仅是希望他们践行自己的价值观，成为他们所标榜的那种高标准雇主。但他们拒绝了。”
Community members expressed concern about the fact that the Wikimedia Foundation has a business relationship with the Jones Day law firm, which is particularly well known in the U.S. for aggressive union busting. In this context, it is worth pointing out that the WMF’s relationship with Jones Day dates back over a decade and that Jones Day has primarily dealt with the Foundation’s brand.
社区成员对维基媒体基金会与众达律师事务所（Jones Day）存在业务关系表示担忧，该律所在美国以激进的反工会手段而闻名。在此背景下，值得指出的是，维基媒体基金会与众达的合作关系已超过十年，且众达主要负责处理基金会的品牌相关事务。