Member Stories

Members were asked a series of seven questions about their thoughts on the AT&T Signature Program, including questions about whether they would recommend the program to other members and which program benefit they liked most.

Members ranked the following program benefits highest:

1. 15% discount on the monthly service charge of qualified wireless plans^{2
   Req’s valid proof of membership with AFL-CIO member union. Indv. member must be acct. holder. Add’l restr’s apply. See 15% details below.}
    
2. Supporting more than 150,000 unionized workers at AT&T
    
3. 20% discount on select accessories from AT&T^{3
   Exclusions and other restrictions apply. See below for 20% details.}

Members also expressed satisfaction about the ease of using the program. 

“It’s easy to sign up and saves money,” said OPEIU member Suzanne Finn.  

UFCW member Debra Hoehing also commented positively about the program.

"It's a great benefit for being a union member," said Hoehing.

For more information on the AT&T Signature Program Discounts through Union Plus and how union members can save on wireless, visit unionplus.org/att.

“I love airport customer interactions,” says Chris Mercado, a Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) lead officer, assistant training officer and American Federation Government Employees (AFGE) TSA Local 618 member. “No matter what travelers think of us, I like turning the tables on their perception of us and delighting them.”

As a union steward, Mercado has mediated disputes, served as an advocate and played a role in the transition of leadership when his local’s president passed away. An active recruiter of new union members, he makes union benefits the focal point of his pitch.

“AFGE organizers made joining easy. They told me about the union benefits up front,” said Mercado. “I never forgot that, and so when I recruit, I make sure to point out the AFGE benefits.”

Mercado’s thorough knowledge of the union benefits came in handy when a need arose nearly overnight. Mercado’s wife Katelin, a manager of a storage facility where the couple received free housing, was informed by the owner that he was selling. She lost her job, and they lost their apartment.

“I immediately looked up my AFGE benefits to see what they could do should we decide on buying a home,” said Mercado. “The Union Plus Mortgage Company (UPMC) got me pre-approved right on the phone, and then they helped me every step of the way. Just 31 days later, I took the keys to our new house.”

Throughout the process of home buying, Mercado says the Union Plus Mortgage Company team constantly reassured him and checked up on him to see that he was getting the best deal.

“They got us in a house so fast, they answered every question, it was amazing,” said Mercado. “I asked so many questions as we started shopping, and every time, Union Plus was there.”

Mercado uses his AFGE benefits to save money and access grants and awards for most areas of his life and he encourages other union members to do the same.

“I’m a member of the Motor Club, I have pet insurance through them, and I use the Union Plus Mobile App all the time,” said Mercado. “For every big-ticket item, I turn to my AFGE benefits first.”

As for his house, Mercado is grateful and excited. He and his wife have never had so much space, and it’s become a retreat from the rigors of his work.

“We found this beautiful home and it is really the best for us,” said Mercado.

The Union Plus Mortgage program, with financing available through Union Plus Mortgage Company, is available for all eligible union members. UPMC is union-owned and staffed by knowledgeable loan officers.

For qualifying members, special benefits for first-time homebuyers as well as:
• A $500 gift card after closing for purchasing or refinancing a home
• Special hardship mortgage assistance from Union Plus in the event of income loss due to disability, unemployment or strike/lockout.

For more information, visit unionplusmortgage.com

The Union Plus team works hard to bring union members discount benefits that help stretch their paychecks and get the goods and services they need for themselves and their families. So it makes sense that the UP team — which includes OPEIU Local 2 members— is also a generous supporter of the Metro Washington Council Community Services Agency's Holiday Basket Project.

This year, UFCW Local 400 single mom Kimberly Mitchell was the recipient of Union Plus' holiday cheer, receiving over $300 worth of Giant Food Store gift cards.

"Thanks for all you guys do!" said Mitchell, in appreciation to both the UP team for their contributions and CSA. 

Since 1986, Union Plus has been committed to helping improve the quality of life for working families with over 25 benefit programs — including discounts on wireless, travel, entertainment and more.

To learn more about Union Plus and special member discount benefits, visit unionplus.org.

“Our experience with Union Plus Mortgage Company was one of the most pleasant experiences dealing with a lender we’ve ever had. Our agent was warm, responsive and professional, and never once did he promise anything he couldn’t deliver". 

"My career has taken me all over the U.S., and I’ve played so many great roles," said Schmidt. "Along the way, my union involvement has meant a lot, and when I was a part of the National Opera at the Kennedy Center, I was asked to sit in on negotiations with management. I’ve seen how unions can be such an asset to anyone making a living in the performing arts."

Along the way, Schmidt met his future wife on stage. They played respective lead roles in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific. The couple eventually had children and decided to settle down in southern California so they could parent and continue doing the work they love.

"We were done with our lives as gypsies," said Schmidt, who has served as an Actor’s Equity Union Deputy on many of the sets he’s worked. "Over time, a house seemed like the best step for us as we became rooted in northern San Diego County, CA, and yet we also realized we were in a very expensive market and began looking for ways to make home buying more affordable."

Schmidt suddenly recalled a Union Plus Real Estate Rewards Program email, reviewed his inbox, found it and clicked away. 

The Real Estate Rewards Program runs in partnership with SIRVA, which delivers customized relocation and moving solutions across more than 170 countries. Through it, home buyers and sellers can earn $500 cash-back for every $100,000 in home value when using a SIRVA-approved real estate agent.

"Our SIRVA-approved agent was incredible, especially given the tight market in our region. He actually helped us find a house by going into the neighborhood where we sought to settle – and where there were no homes for sale – created a flier to engage potential sellers, and when one emerged, he facilitated the whole transaction," said Schmidt.

Having purchased his home in the $500,000 range, Schmidt received more than $2,000 cash back. Between his agent experience and the money, he is an enthusiastic advocate of the program.

"I would recommend this program to anybody and everybody who is a union member,” he said. “If they are thinking about buying or selling a home, they should just do the math. Plus, it was so easy to apply and the process was entirely smooth."

For Schmidt, to find, buy and get cash back on a house while being supported by a pre-approved SIRVA agent made all of the difference.

"For a guy like me whose work is a freelance commercial yesterday and a major TV series tomorrow, the Union Plus Real Estate Rewards program was perfect," said Schmidt. "Cash back and a great agent made it so."

To learn more about the Union Plus Real Estate Rewards Program, visit unionplus.org/realestate.

The Union Plus Scholarship Program, now in its 26th year, awards scholarships based on outstanding academic achievement, personal character, financial need and commitment to organized labor's values. The program is offered through the Union Plus Education Foundation, supported in part by contributions from the provider of the Union Plus Credit Cards. Applicants do not need to be a credit cardholder to apply for the scholarship.

Since starting the program in 1991, Union Plus has awarded more than $4.2 million in educational funding to more than 2,800 union members, spouses and dependent children. Union Plus Scholarship awards are granted to students attending a two-year college, four-year college, graduate school or a recognized technical or trade school. The selection process is very competitive and this year over 5,100 applications were received from 65 unions, all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories. Visit unionplus.org/scholarship for applications and information about benefit eligibility.

"Education is a vital building block for success," said Mitch Stevens, Union Plus president. “We’re pleased to be helping some of the labor movement’s most promising students achieve their college dreams.”

In addition to the scholarship program, Union Plus provides a wide range of money-saving programs and services for union members and families, including discounts on wireless services from AT&T, the only nationwide unionized wireless carrier, savings on travel and recreation, and more. Union Plus also offers a credit card program¹ and mortgage program, both of which feature Hardship Assistance Grants² for eligible participants. Visit unionplus.org for details.

“My father was a seaman, and while he never encouraged me to follow in his footsteps, it became something I always wanted to do or at least try,” said Plathan. “So, I applied to the SIU and went through their apprenticeship program that lasted for 18 months. For the last five years, I’ve mainly worked in the Gulf of Mexico on tankers carrying crude oil, gasoline and sulpher, traveling from Florida to Louisiana and Texas.”

As his life as a sailor progressed, Peter realized that renting an apartment was similar to throwing money away. Gone for weeks (and sometimes months) at a time, he was rarely home long enough to make a lease work. Yet coming home without a lease meant having to find a place to live after each voyage.

“I wanted to start a new chapter in my life and didn’t want to rent anymore. So, I found a house near Florida’s Gulf Coast in North Port,” said Plathan. “It’s a three-bedroom, two-bathroom townhome in a community with a clubhouse and pool. I’m really excited about it.” 

Plathan’s road to the American dream began easily enough. He applied for a loan and was immediately pre-approved, enabling him to move on the house. However, as his paperwork moved through the underwriting process, Plathan faced a challenge that so many other union members confront: the nature of his work – a constant cycle of hiring and layoff tied to specific voyage-based assignments – disqualified him from ultimate approval for a conventional loan.

“I saw the Union Plus Mortgage Company (UPMC) ad online and got lucky,” said Plathan. “I called them immediately and was approved within two weeks.” 

“The thing of it is, UPMC understood my situation and my job. It was no problem.” said Plathan. “That made the process really smooth. I would definitely recommend anyone trying to buy a home to call them.”

Plathan was able to close on his house right before setting sail on another adventure. He looks forward to moving in and getting settled.

“For me, it’s a major investment and the start of a new phase.” said Plathan. “Through the process of purchasing it, Union Plus really showed me that they have the backs of union members. I’m so grateful.” 

The Union Plus Mortgage program, with financing available through Union Plus Mortgage Company, is available for all eligible union members.  UPMC is union-owned and staffed by unionized loan officers. 

For qualifying members, special benefits include: 

• A $500 gift card after closing for purchasing or refinancing a home
• A $750 gift card for First-Time Home Buyers'
• Special hardship mortgage assistance from Union Plus in the event of income loss due to disability, unemployment or strike/lockout.

For more information, visit unionplusmortgage.com or call 855 UNION 53 (855-864-6653). 

Jeremy, a shop foreman for an electrical company, recently purchased a home. He first learned of the contest through Union Plus fliers, “I believe they sent us some literature, [as] we just recently bought a house this year,” he recalls.

Though Jeremy was happy to be chosen as a winner, he already knew to expect great things from Wells Fargo and the Union Plus Mortgage Program. “We originally heard about them from our realtor, she mentioned the program and we thought ‘why not?’” Jeremy quickly learned that he could always count on Union Plus to step up to the bat for him. “It was a really good decision,” he says, “One of the best decisions we made with our home loan.”

Jeremy was especially interested in the contest because it gave him the opportunity to win some extra money for renovations to his new home. “It was kind of a fixer- upper,” he says. “It hadn’t been updated in a long time, so we’ve gone through and changed a lot of the light fixtures, the switches, and outlets. Just a lot of general maintenance.”

He decided that, in order to really show how his house felt like home, he would have to get his whole, winning lineup involved in his own dug-out. “We had a fire going in our fireplace and our kids sitting in front of it. That kind of encapsulated a little bit of finally being home and comfortable, and warm, so we really enjoyed it!”

Because his photos won him the pennant, Jeremy was able to move on some much-needed home improvements. “We used the winning[s] to put in a new floor in part of our house, it paid for basically all of the materials,” he says.

Jeremy knows the benefits of having Union Plus on his team, and has since made sure to spread the word among his fellow union members. “I’ve told everybody I work with about it. How easy they are to work with, how fast they get back to you. We’ve really had nothing but a good experience so far.”

The Union Plus Mortgage program, with financing available through Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, is available for all eligible union members. For qualifying members, special benefits include:

• A My Mortgage Gift^SM award from Wells Fargo after closing–$500 for buying a home, or $300 for refinancing a home – for use at participating retailers.¹ 
• Special hardship mortgage assistance from Union Plus in the event of income loss due to disability, unemployment or strike/lockout.²

Derek recently purchased a house in Sammamish Washington and his submission reflected his happiness with the ways a new home would affect his family’s life. “The picture was of my boys playing in the front yard,” he recalls, “we lived in a condo before, and we didn’t really have any room for them to play outside, so seeing that was pretty cool.”

Derek has a special appreciation of his new house because of his life on the move. As a pilot, he can be at any end of the country on any given day “We don’t fly just one specific route,” he says; “tomorrow I’ll be in Oakland, then the next day I’m in Las Vegas, so I’m kind of all over the place.”

With so many nights away, Derek is proud of his new home field, and is especially appreciative of the help he received in the home buying process, “I had used Wells Fargo for the mortgage on my condo, and I had a good relationship with them,” he says, “When I bought the new house I decided to go with them again, and they actually brought up Union Plus.”

From there, Wells Fargo helped Derek research the benefits available to him through the Union Plus Mortgage Program. “The person at Wells Fargo basically handled everything, and made the whole process really easy,” he recalls. “They definitely kept the paperwork to a minimum.”

The Home Run Contest was particularly helpful to Derek, as it helped him finally include his family in his travel plans.  “It was good timing, because over spring break we splurged and took the kids to Disneyland, he laughs, “so it definitely helped to offset that vacation.”

The Union Plus Mortgage Program, with financing available through Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, is available for all eligible union members.

For qualifying members, special benefits include:
• A My Mortgage Gift^SM award from Wells Fargo after closing – $500 for buying a home, or $300 for refinancing a home – for use at participating retailers.¹
• Special hardship mortgage assistance from Union Plus in the event of income loss due to disability, unemployment or strike/lockout.²

Mallow, who is no stranger to the sports world, works as an athletics financial administrator at a college. “I’m basically in charge of processing the financial paperwork for all of the sports teams,” she says.

Though Kimberly enjoyed her work and had a happy life with her family, she hoped to find enough financial stability to afford to buy a house of her own. “I was living in Yonkers with my husband and daughter [and] we were saving for a new place, but you know how [high] prices can be in a big city,”
 
Despite her high cost of living, Kimberly and her husband were able to save enough money to buy a house. With her family growing every day, it couldn’t have happened at a better time.

“We had another daughter, and we were finally able to save enough to buy a house on Long Island,” she recalls. The house was a significant improvement over their old life, with more space and a large yard. “More space is never bad,” she says with a laugh.
 
Kimberly and her family were happy with their decision, but their bills didn’t leave the roster, as money remained a constant issue. Fortunately, Kimberly had heard about the Union Plus Mortgage program with financing provided by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, and knew about all of the services they could offer to new homeowners.

“I subscribe to the OPEIU emails, which is where I first learned about Union Plus,” she says. “They’ve been very helpful in the past, so I was sure to keep up with their emails after we bought our place.”
 
Kimberly was especially interested in the Union Plus Home Run Contest, which gave her the chance to submit photos of her new house, while including her family in the process. “We just took pictures of [us] sledding with my daughters, everyone was smiling and laughing, it was pretty natural,” she recalls.
 
When Kimberly was chosen as one of the winners of the Union Plus Home Run Contest, the money’s impact on her family proved to be a grand-slam. “The money has been great. I’m currently five months pregnant and I don’t get any maternity leave from work, so we’ve been able to use it to pay our mortgage.”

In fact, Kimberly has been so impressed with the services she has received from Union Plus that she makes sure to spread the word whenever she can. “Union Plus has been great,” she says, “I always make sure to recommend it to new people at work.”

The Union Plus Mortgage program, with financing available through Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, is available for all eligible union members. 

For qualifying members, special benefits include:

• A My Mortgage Gift^SM award from Wells Fargo after closing  – $500 for buying a home, or $300 for refinancing a home – for use at participating retailers.¹ 
• Special hardship mortgage assistance from Union Plus in the event of income loss due to disability, unemployment or strike/lockout.²