Some workers get bonuses

At least three major companies are building goodwill in the wake of President Trump’s tax cuts by finding ways to pass along some of their likely savings to employees.

AT&T says 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.”

Ohio’s Fifth Third Bancorp says 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 will provide an additional $300 million for job training, facility upgrades and charitable giving.

AT&T’s relationship with the Trump administration has had its ups and downs. Even as CEO Randall Stephenson praised the president, the Justice Department is busy preparing its antitrust case against AT&T’s $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.

In the 2016 elections, Republican candidates got 62 percent of $2.7 million in donations to federal candidates from AT&T’s political action committee that pools contributions from employees, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Stephenson has averaged a bonus of about $5.2 million over the past three years.