The policy has come under fire from the ACLU, which filed a class-action lawsuit charging that AT&T Mobility’s no-fault policy violates the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and individual claims that the policy violates the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Employees, however, say the impetus for the union is much larger in scope and they aim to hold the rapidly growing co-op to the progressive values they believe have been lost to corporatization, as well as push for higher wages and better working conditions.

Andrews said the co-op had continually put off pay increases while prioritizing expansion, and in addition to the attendance policy, the co-op has adopted other corporate changes like automated training and call-in systems that raised employees' concerns.

"I think many of us feel like the attendance policy was a symptom of that larger kind of move toward corporatization and expansion rather than any single issue," she said.

She said some employees felt that they could have worked with management on the attendance policy, but the continual emergence of new issues made a negotiating process necessary.