Union-Watcher’s Scoop of AFT Survey Attracts Legal Threat

In an eyebrow-raising scoop earlier this month, the union watchdog and blogger Mike Antonucci reported on some of the findings of an internal-communications survey of staff members at the American Federation of Teachers, including candid quotes about the culture and politics at the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union.

Among the remarks he highlighted: “No one seems to know what anyone else is doing”; “Hundreds of thousands of dollars are thrown in the trash”; and “I think that the AFT could be facing a very troubled future.”

While the AFT has remained mostly silent on the survey and its disclosure, a war of words has erupted between CleverSpin, the Chicago-based public relations company contracted to do the survey, and Mr. Antonucci over...