Wayne Ireland was in his own words skeptical.

When noti­fied that he was the 500,000th AT&T Union Plus customer, he found it hard to believe. “I thought they were trying to pull a fast one on me. You never can be too sure these days; there are a lot of people out there running scams,” Ireland said.

But it was no scam. Ireland, a United Steelworkers (USW) union member (Local 14448), indeed signed up for the right plan at the right time.

For being the half-millionth AT&T Union Plus member, Ireland receives an Android LG G2 smartphone and free wireless service for a year (capped at $100 per month).

“I’ve never won anything in my whole life,” Ireland said. “Everything I’ve ever gotten, I’ve worked for. But if this is true, hey, great for me.”

Ireland’s decision to sign up for AT&T Wireless through Union Plus was out of necessity. He and his family live in Florence, Colo., located in the remote mountainous region of central Colorado. When Verizon lost towers in Florence, the Irelands were left without service. With AT&T offering a 15-percent monthly discount for union members, it was an easy decision.

“I got an e-mail from Union Plus saying they were offering rebates for using AT&T,” Ireland said. “We got three smartphones and a business phone, and it cost us less than what we were paying before.”

Furthermore, Union Plus offers a $150 rebate for switching to AT&T from a competing company. Ireland got an additional $100 rebate by using his Union Plus Credit Card to purchase a new smartphone.

“I don’t use credit cards a lot; you can get into trouble with them,” he said. “But sometimes life just happens. I use it a little here and there because I don’t ever carry cash. And Union Plus gives me pretty good discounts when I use it.”

Overall, Ireland has been more than pleased with his decision to make the switch to AT&T Wireless through Union Plus.

“It all worked out for me pretty well,” he said. “We got more phones than we had before, and we have better service with AT&T. Plus, I got $200 in rebates out of it. And Union Plus sent the money right away; they’re right on it.”

Ireland does mechanical maintenance at a cement plant, saying “That’s about all you do at a cement plant is maintenance, maintenance, maintenance. I always say, ‘No maintenance, no cement.’”

With his new AT&T Wireless plan through Union Plus, cell phone maintenance is no longer one of his concerns.

“I’ve been trying to push it on those guys at the plant ever since I got the rebate,” Ireland said. “We get 15 percent of because of Union Plus, and there are the rebates. Who couldn’t use 250 bucks? You can’t go wrong.”

To find more information on items from Union Plus, Click Here.