WASHINGTON – At least four major companies are building goodwill in the wake of President Donald Trump’s tax cuts by finding ways to pass along some of their likely savings to employees.
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AT&T said it will pay a $1,000 bonus to 200,000 workers once the tax bill passed Wednesday is signed into law. The Justice Department is currently suing to block a proposed $85 billion merger between AT&T and Time Warner, a deal Trump has objected to as “not good for the country.”
While celebrating the tax cuts outside the White House on Wednesday, Trump highlighted the AT&T announcement as the Republican lawmakers gathered behind him clapped and cheered. The $1.5 trillion tax cut permanently reduces the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent.
“That’s because of what we did,” Trump said of AT&T. “So that’s pretty good. That’s pretty good.”
The president suggested that other companies would be making similar announcements, saying “We’re going to see something that’s very special.”
Wells Fargo said it will boost its minimum wage to $15 an hour, as well as donate $400 million to nonprofit and community organizations. The San Francisco-based bank has been a subject of criticism for opening fraudulent accounts in customers’ names, as well as its practices more than a decade ago that contributed to the housing crash and Great Recession.
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Ohio-based Fifth Third Bancorp said it will pay a $1,000 bonus to more than 13,500 employees, as well as raise the minimum wage for 3,000 of its workers to $15 an hour.
Major government contractor Boeing said it will provide an additional $300 million for job-training, facility upgrades and charitable giving.
