The company that makes Kleenex and Huggies announced that they are laying off 5,500 and that the money they saved from the Trump tax cut is making the cost reductions possible.
USA Today reported:
The company said it plans to shed $500 million to $550 million in costs before 2022 through a restructuring plan that involves “streamlining and simplifying its manufacturing supply chain and overhead.”
The move comes after competitors slashed prices on tissues, damaging Kleenex sales in North America.
Savings from the recent federal tax cut would help fund the cost reductions. It “provides us the flexibility” to do so, Chief Financial Officer Maria Henry said on a conference call.
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The reality behind the Trump tax cut for workers.
For all the chatter about one time only $1,000 bonuses being handed out big corporations as a PR stunt, the reality is that companies aren’t using their tax savings to create jobs. They are using the money to fund cost reductions and layoffs. Closing plants or moving to more automation costs money, and now thanks to Trump and Republicans in Congress, Kimberly-Clark now has the extra money to lay off workers and close factories.
The thousand dollar bonuses are change under the cushions level spending compared to hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks that they will receive from the permanent cut.
Corporations are using the tax cut to lay workers off
The tax cuts aren’t creating jobs. It’s killing them. AT&T has laid off 4,000 workers. Comcast fired 500 employees right before Christmas. Companies are taking their tax cuts and using them to slash their labor force because it under Trump laying off workers has gotten less expensive.
Democrats should be rounding up and speaking about these numbers every single day. The tiny bonuses are a publicity stunt. What is really happening is that corporations are using their tax cuts to create more wealth for themselves while taking jobs away from workers.
That’s how the economy of Donald Trump doesn’t work for ordinary Americans.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
