On Thursday 6th August, WWU UK Branch and UTAW applied to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) to start the statutory recognition process. This is in line with what we said during our previous meeting with Safeguard Global (SG) representatives, hosted by the conciliation service ACAS. This statutory recognition process can proceed alongside continuing negotiations with SG facilitated by ACAS, with the hope that we can agree on voluntary recognition of a bargaining unit consisting of all Wikimedia Foundation staff employed in the UK.

The UK branch’s process towards recognition is continuing in parallel to our American colleagues, who are about to start postal voting for recognition. The CAC is an independent body that can both determine the appropriate bargaining unit and, if necessary, conduct a ballot of staff. Since we have a majority of staff who are already union members, this ballot may not be needed.

We remain open to continuing the voluntary recognition process via negotiations with SG facilitated by ACAS if those proceed in a timely and constructive manner. Starting the statutory recognition process ensures we can achieve recognition within a predictable timeframe.

-- WWU-UK Branch August 10, 2026