Steward Carter Brainerd (CWA 1400) Discusses Issues Impacting AT&T Workers & Customers in Maine

PHOTO: Carter Brainerd

When Carter Brainerd decided to make a career change from his previous job working at a small blueprinting company in 2013, his friends encouraged him to consider a career in cellular sales. His choices came down to AT&T or US Cellular. His friends working for AT&T made a good pitch.

“They were telling me how much they were paid and how the commission worked and that they were unionized so they protected from retaliation whereas at non-union jobs you could get terminated for any reason,” said Brainerd.

He then consulted with a friend who had worked for both companies. The only positions open at US Cellular were at third party “authorized" retail stores and she warned him to avoid those at all costs.

“You definitely want to go with corporate and I would choose AT&T over US Cellular if I was in your shoes,” she told him.

He followed her advice and ever since then he has been working at AT&T’s corporate store at the Maine Mall in South Portland, one of two unionized AT&T stores in Maine. The other one is in Saco. A year ago, he became a shop steward for his union, Communications Workers of America Local 1400. He says his members are fortunate that they have a great relationship with management.

“It’s been pretty good because we haven’t had any issues in Maine. Our management team is pretty good with us. I haven’t had anybody complain about any major issues with management or AT&T in general.”

During their last round of negotiations in 2022, the AT&T workers won pay increases of 5 percent and 3 percent plus a cost of living adjustment for every year through 2025. The last time there was major work stoppage among AT&T workers in Maine was briefly in 2017 when 65 CWA Local 1400 members walked off the job at nine AT&T stores throughout Maine in a nationwide strike over the company’s outsourcing of call-center jobs and diversion of retail jobs to non-union authorized third party retailers where wages and benefits are lower. Brainerd was an assistant store manager at that time and recalled AT&T flying up managers from other districts to fill in for sales reps.

“It was weird watching them picket outside the store and I was actually kind of rooting for them to get a better contract even though I was in management,” he said. “I feel like the company tries to take advantage of their unionized employees by paying less or getting rid of them because let’s face it, they really do not like unionized employees.”

Since then, AT&T sold seven of the Maine stores impacted by the 2017 strike to non-union authorized retailers - six to BlueLink Wireless and one to Premier Communications.

Brainerd said one of the major problems with the authorized retailers is that employees don’t receive pay outs unless they exceed or meet certain sales quotas, so they are pressured into using unethical sales tactics. Sometimes, customers go to an authorized retailer with questions about a bill and are told falsely that they have to go to a corporate store.

“They need to unionize,” said Brainerd. “Being a union employee is much safer and it’s a lot less stressful. You’re not pushed as hard just to make a sale. I’m not just sales. I’m support and I help them with billing and transfers. As union employees, we actually care about the customer.”