Since the coronavirus pandemic began, the telecoms giant AT&T has announced permanent closures of hundreds of retail stores around the US and laid off thousands of workers. The closures and losses include 320 company-owned retail stores announced in November and December 2020 and 250 stores announced in June 2020, including an estimated 3,400 cuts in technician, clerical, managerial and executive roles. The moves come despite the company’s keen support for a major corporate tax cut under Donald Trump, which it claimed would spur it to create jobs – not cut them. AT&T is also closing dozens of retail stores this spring around the US, including three stores in the Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota, area where workers and their union, the Communications Workers of America Local 7250, are pushing back against the cuts. “It’s a move that will erase living wage jobs replaced by non-union, substandard jobs in terms of wages, benefits and safety,” said the CWA Local 7250 president, Kieran Knutson. “It’s an attack on this group of workers, the communities that they’re in and on our union.” Mali Flores has worked as a sales representative in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota for two years and recently learned her store will be shut down. Once the store closes, Flores will be moved to a remote customer service position where she will make less money. “It’s very devastating. I’m basically the head of my household. I’m having to budget a little more. I’ve been having a lot of anxiety about how I am going to come up with extra funds for my kids,” Flores said.