Peach Tree Times

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) has launched a drive to try to convince Delta Air Lines flight attendants to join the union, but some media outlets report that the efforts originate from NewsGuild, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America (CWA).

Delta has the largest group of non-union flight attendants in the country — approximately 25,000 — who have voted against unionizing on three occasions over the last 20 years, CNBC reported. 

Delta released a statement regarding the AFA-CWA's campaign, saying it would respect its flight attendants' in their choice to unionize or not.

“While we respect our flight attendants’ right to choose whether or not to support AFA representation, we feel that our direct partnership with Delta people plays a significant role in our award-winning culture and customer experience including our ability to respond and implement quickly to our flight attendants’ ideas and feedback,” Delta said in a statement, CNBC's Leslie Josephs reported.

Leslie Josephs is a member of the NewsGuild union, which is part of CWA — as is AFA-CWA. 

CWA is one of the America's largest unions.

Earlier this month, the Minneapolis Review claimed that a New York Magazine reporter, Sarah Jones, was the first to write about the union's recent attempt to convince flight attendants to join. In her story, Jones wrote of "unprecedented intimidation" that caused the last attempt to fail a decade ago. She alleged Delta bombarded its flight attendants with "inaccurate, anti-union talking points."

Both Jones and Josephs quoted Sara Nelson, AFA's president, regarding the campaign and noted criticism of Delta from past union attempts.

Jones and Josephs weren't the only NewsGuild reporters to write about the unionization campaign. Kristen Leigh Painter with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune also did. And none of the three news stories included a disclaimer regarding affiliation with NewsGuild.

"Delta, the only major U.S. airline whose flight attendants are not unionized, has a reputation for strong anti-union sentiment," Painter wrote for the Star-Tribune. "Less than 20% of its workforce is unionized, with the pilots being the only significantly sized work group that is the exception."

Other journalists, such as Alexia Fernandez Campbell with the Center for Public Integrity, disclose their union-status in news stories. In one such story, an editor's note says, "The author of this article is a member of the Washington-Baltimore News Guild, which is affiliated with the Communication Workers of America, a member union of the AFL-CIO."