CWA-AFA · Flight-attendant sector
Coalition Activity and Cost Sharing
Dated Delta coalition evidence, documented CWA research support and unanswered allocation questions.
Evidence reviewed through .
Joint activity is documented; the cost split remains unresolved
The unions’ public announcements document coordinated Delta organizing. CWA’s own fund report also identifies research support that served Delta organizing. In the records reviewed through October 23, 2026, those disclosures do not provide a complete Delta project ledger or an agreed division of costs among the participating unions.
What the coalition announcements establish
An announcement dated November 21, 2022 described a coordinated campaign by CWA-AFA, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. It associated CWA-AFA with flight attendants, IAM with fleet service workers, and the Teamsters with mechanics. These are the roles described in that dated announcement.
Sources: Joint announcement dated November 21, 2022; posted November 22.
The Teamsters subsequently reported that all three unions participated in a Congressional Labor Caucus roundtable on January 18, 2024. That record confirms another joint activity, without pricing the event or allocating the broader campaign’s expenses.
Affirmative evidence of CWA-funded research
CWA’s 2025 Defense Fund Oversight Committee report identifies SIF 726, a Strategic Industry Fund project for CWA-AFA bargaining and organizing research. It reports that a corporate campaign researcher supported United bargaining, Delta organizing and regional boarding-pay work. The project paragraph gives no amount or carrier allocation. It therefore documents parent-funded research support without establishing Delta’s share or the coalition’s cost split.
Sources: 2025 Defense Fund Oversight Committee report, PDF page 8, SIF 726.
What each record can answer
| Record | Supported conclusion | Still needed |
|---|---|---|
| Dated coalition announcements | The named unions coordinated organizing and public activity. | Joint-work agreements, approved budgets and responsibility for each expense. |
| SIF 726 project narrative | A CWA-funded research project served several CWA-AFA objectives, including Delta. | Project authorizations, actual expenditure, staff time and allocation by carrier and activity. |
| Parent, sector and other union annual filings | Each filing reports transactions and categories for its own reporting entity. | Reconciliation of transfers and reimbursements so the same money is not counted at both payer and recipient. |
A common campaign name does not establish equal funding, exclusive funding by one union, or a member-based formula. Likewise, a broad representational-activities total includes work beyond a single organizing campaign. The unresolved allocation is a limit of this review’s evidence; it is not a finding that the campaign received no funding.
The allocation questions to put to the unions
- What written agreement governed the division of Delta campaign costs, and did that formula change over time?
- What were SIF 726’s approved funding, actual expenditure and reporting periods, and what portion of the researcher’s work served Delta?
- Which union or fund paid each shared invoice, staff assignment, travel expense, communications purchase and event cost?
- What reimbursements or transfers were made among CWA, CWA-AFA, IAM, the Teamsters and any local or intermediate bodies?
- Can the unions reconcile gross spending, inter-union recoveries and each organization’s final cost without double counting?