Jeff Schmidt started working as a retail sales consultant at the AT&T store on Main Street in Fairfax five years ago, but he did not notice any changes in the company’s approach until about two-and-a-half years ago.

First, the telecommunications company closed one of its other Fairfax stores only for an authorized third-party retailer to open up on Lee Highway, just down the road from the defunct corporate store’s Arlington Boulevard location.

Unlike the workforce at its corporate stores, which belongs to the Communication Workers of America (CWA), employees for AT&T authorized third-party retailers are not unionized.

Schmidt is not the only AT&T employee with concerns about the conglomerate.

Roughly 37,000 AT&T workers went on a short strike on May 19 after CWA President Christopher Shelton canceled their contract with the company, which had originally expired in February until the union agreed to an extension that ended on May 1.

The CWA represents more than 150,000 AT&T workers and originally started contract negotiations in January, according to Schmidt.

While AT&T reached a tentative agreement in early June for 17,000 workers in California and Nevada, talks are still ongoing for a contract covering 21,000 wireless workers in 36 states and Washington, D.C.

Schmidt joined a group of 10 AT&T employees, including seven retail workers, two call center workers, and a technician, from around the U.S. on Sept. 6 to brief members of Congress on their dispute with their employer.

“We asked them to call [AT&T CEO and President] Randall Stephenson or send him a letter to ask them to come back to the bargaining table and give their workers a fair contract,” Schmidt said. “They’re not providing information to our bargaining team so we can negotiate a fair contract, and it goes from wages to our benefits, days off, things like that. They’re not offering really anything for us.”

The workers met with Sens. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in person and talked to staffers for several other congressional representatives, including Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.).

Sanders posted a video in support of the union members on his Facebook page on Sept. 8, criticizing AT&T for cutting and outsourcing jobs despite posting record profits.

“That’s not acceptable,” the Vermont senator wrote. “I stand with the CWA Union members and all workers across the United States.”

According to CNBC, AT&T’s reported earnings for the first quarter in April matched expectations, but it recorded $39.37 billion in revenue, falling short of an expected $40.53 billion gain.

Bloomberg’s Scott Moritz reported on Apr. 25 that AT&T lost 191,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2017.

Schmidt, who is a member of CWA Local 2222, which represents Northern Virginia workers, says that one of the grievances that most resonated with the Congress members that he spoke to was AT&T’s rigid attendance or sick leave policy.

According to Schmidt, employees are given eight attendance points each year that are deducted for each absence, regardless of whether it is the result of sickness, an emergency, or any other reason.

“A lot of our workers go to work sick with contagious things because they’re afraid that they’re going to get fired and lose their job,” Schmidt said.

AT&T disputes this characterization of its attendance policy.

Marty Richter, the human resources contact on AT&T’s communications team, says that the terms in the company’s most recent contract offer include up to 39 days off, including five weeks of paid vacation, 10 paid holidays, and four excused days with pay, depending on how long an employee has been with the company.

Employees may also be eligible for up to 10 additional paid days of sick leave based on their service, according to Richter.

Richter says that AT&T is actively engaged in negotiating a new contract and has offered terms similar to what other union employees have already ratified, including an average of $70,000 per year in pay and benefits.

“We’re confident employees will be better off financially in their new contracts,” Richter said.

The company has negotiated 32 different fair labor agreements since 2015 that cover 145,000 employees. The contract covering the 21,000 employees including Schmidt is the only one still open, according to Richter.

According to the CWA website, the union represents over 30,000 workers for Verizon Communications.

“Like any retailer, we must consistently manage our distribution options to best meet our customer where he or she wants us to be,” Richter said by email. “…At a time when consumers are increasingly choosing to do business online, and many major retailers are being forced to shutter stores, we continue to operate thousands of company-owned retail stores across the country.”

Richter says that fewer than five people left AT&T last year as a result of company-owned stores closing, and the company announced plans to hire 4,000 more union employees earlier this year.

A four-year contract struck between AT&T and CWA for workers in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas included a promise that the company bring 3,000 jobs that had been outsourced, mostly overseas, back to the U.S, Fortune reported on Mar. 3.

However, Schmidt says that the use of authorized retailers creates problems for customers who often are not aware of the store they are visiting might not be owned by AT&T, even though third-party retailers are supposed to have signs indicating their status.

For example, customers often buy a product at an authorized retailer, but when it breaks or they encounter issues, they are told that they have to go to a corporate store for assistance.

“You’re giving the customer the run-around, which isn’t fair to them,” Schmidt said. “If there’s something we can do for you, we’re going to do everything we can, because we have more capabilities than a lot of these third-party dealers.”

Schmidt says that he and other employees are also concerned about what might happen if AT&T merges with Time Warner, as the telecommunications company announced in October 2016.

AT&T’s $85.4 billion acquisition of the media company that owns Warner Bros. and HBO is currently under review by the U.S. Department of Justice after competitors raised concerns that the deal would allow the wireless company to give Time Warner channels favorable treatment on its DirecTV platforms.

Schmidt says that AT&T’s merger with DirecTV in July 2015, which made the company the largest pay TV provider both nationally and globally, coincided with workers’ commissions dropping.

“All of the retail workers felt like we’re paying for the DirecTV merger,” Schmidt said. “If they do the same thing for the Time Warner merger…that doesn’t bode well for us, so everyone’s worried about it.”