200,000 AT&T workers get bonus to celebrate tax cut
Payout part of corporate America’s effort to show U.S. bill also benefits workers
NEW YORK AT&T Inc., the phone carrier locked in a battle with the U.S. government over its Time Warner Inc. acquisition, lauded President Donald Trump and Congress for their tax-cut bill and said 200,000 U.S. workers will get a special US$1,000 bonus to celebrate.
The payment will go to unionrepresented, non-management and front-line management employees, AT&T said Wednesday. The Dallas-based telecommunications giant also reiterated its plan to invest an additional US$1 billion in the U.S. next year.
The payout is part of an effort by corporate America to defy criticism that tax cuts for companies will benefit shareholders more than workers. Boeing Co. separately pledged US$300 million Wednesday for employee training, improved workplace infrastructure and corporate giving, crediting the tax cuts.
“This is a capital-freeing event,” AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said on Nov. 29. If Trump signs the bill before Christmas, employees will get their bonus over the holidays, AT&T said.
AT&T’s relationship with the Trump administration has had its ups and downs. Even as Stephenson praised the president, the administration’s Justice Department is busy preparing its antitrust case against AT&T’s US$85.4-billion acquisition of Time Warner. Stephenson has characterized the deal as strategically vital, but Trump has said the transaction would harm consumers. On the other hand, AT&T scored a victory when the Republican-led Federal Communications Commission gutted utility-style regulations for internet service providers.
Trump cited AT&T’s bonus plan at a news conference Wednesday. “That’s because of what we did. So that’s pretty good,” he said.
Phone carriers are among the companies that are likely to increase their capital spending because of the bill, which allows immediate tax deductions for such investments. AT&T and its rivals are upgrading their networks to provide faster speeds and more ubiquitous coverage as more devices get connected to the internet.