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Wikipedia Workers to Seek Union Recognition

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Re: Wikipedia Workers to Seek Union Recognition

#51

Post by fluoridation »

declan_roberts wrote: post #29

I've been mostly resistant to unionization for my whole career, but I think now is the right time. Between AI and H1B, the pool of jobs available for engineers is getting smaller and smaller, especially at the low end. When you destroy the entry level position, you also destroy the pipeline that creates senior engineers, a shortage of which is used as leverage to increase H1B in America.

>When you destroy the entry level position, you also destroy the pipeline that creates senior engineers, a shortage of which is used as leverage to increase H1B in America.

It's okay, the same is happening across the board, everywhere. Companies are engineering their own labor shortage 10-20 years from now.

Re: Wikipedia Workers to Seek Union Recognition

#52

Post by greyface- »

nickff wrote: post #9
hungryhobbit wrote: post #8

Man, it's sad how far the wiki foundation has fallen. For (literally) decades no one there would have even thought of forming a union! To get them to not only consider it, but actually go through the effort of actually doing it ... the foundation truly has shit the bed.

Wikipedia has a lot of money, along with a valuable dataset (for AI); it was only a matter of time until rent-seeker(s) would come along and try to get it. As we saw with OpenAI, it is difficult to keep a non-profit dedicated to its public benefit mission when it has something of tantalizing value.

> a valuable dataset

It's CC-BY-SA/GFDL, and the underlying copyright belongs to the editors that wrote it. There is no commercial value in reselling access, and WMF does not have the right to relicense it.

Re: Wikipedia Workers to Seek Union Recognition

#53

Post by nickff »

Apocryphon wrote: post #45
nickff wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The employees of the Wikipedia foundation did not create the dataset, though they definitely contributed to the infrastructure behind it. Sam Altman (and the OpenAI employees) contributed even more to OpenAI's continuing success (and that of their industry). Both groups are still rent-seekers, as they are attempting to profit off a market position which was developed under different auspices.

Did you see the subthread that the motivation behind this union does not seem to be collective bargaining over compensation, but in response to management's decision over personnel issues: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48665062 Indeed, the OP does not mention increased pay at all, but rather "concerns over transparency, trust, and the organisation’s future direction." You can go ahead and call that rhetoric, b…

>” You can go ahead and call that rhetoric, but you are also reading in intentions that do not seem to match reports from the ground.”

This just seems like standard union rhetoric, like when they talk about quality, or caring about the company’s clients. If the union gets concessions on transparency, and less than a 5% raise for the first year, I’ll do my best to come back to this thread and post a retraction. I don’t think I’ll have to do that.

Re: Wikipedia Workers to Seek Union Recognition

#54

Post by Telaneo »

_djo_ wrote: post #19
spoaceman7777 wrote: post #12

Wow, they're on a roll over there. Just two days ago they permanently banned the cofounder of Wikipedia, Larry Sanger. Per his tweet: "Well, that’s that—I’ve been blocked by Wikipedia “indefinitely” for unstated reasons, by the “consensus” of a mob. There was no due process, no prosecutor, no dispassionate judge, no jury, no interpretation of law. All my judges were self-selected and hated me." Link to his June 22nd…

While the merits of Sanger's banning are worth debating, Sanger is dishonestly representing the process here. The reasons, rather than being 'unstated', were stated repeatedly and were not unreasonable. [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_no...

It was even directly linked to in the post on his talk page, that he took a screenshot of. Hardly unstated.

To be fair, there's a lot of text in that thread, but that is pretty unavoidable if the accusations have any sort of merit. He also actively participated in it, so he's probably actually read the majority of it.

Re: Wikipedia Workers to Seek Union Recognition

#60

Post by iso1631 »

sevenzero wrote: post #58
Frieren wrote: post #56

There is no reason for any employee to not search for unionization. It is your right and it is in your best interest. Good for them.

I work in a 2 man company, for sure a Union will have many advantages for me x)

Aside from legal support, advice, and contributing to industry influence?
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