FILE - This Tuesday, March 14, 2017, file photo shows the Starbucks logo on a shop in downtown Pittsburgh. Starbucks is giving its U.S. workers pay raises and stock bonuses in 2018, citing recent tax... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - This Tuesday, March 14, 2017, file photo shows the Starbucks logo on a shop in downtown Pittsburgh. Starbucks is giving its U.S. workers pay raises and stock bonuses in 2018, citing recent tax reform. The coffee chain is also extending the potential to earn paid sick time off to all employees,... (Associated Press) 
 
 NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks is giving its U.S. workers pay raises and stock grants this year, citing recent changes to the tax law. 
 
 All employees will soon be able to earn paid sick time off, and the company's parental leave benefits will include all non-birth parents. Starbucks Corp. said Wednesday that the changes affect about 150,000 full-time, part-time, hourly and salaried employees, most of whom work as baristas or shop managers. The new benefits apply to workers at more than 8,200 company-owned stores but not at the 5,700 licensed shops like those found inside supermarkets. 
 
 Starbucks is the latest to say it's boosting pay or benefits due to the passage of the Republican tax plan, which slashed the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Walmart, for example, raised its starting hourly salary from $9 to $11 earlier this month, and also expanded its parental leave benefits. 
 
 Beyond changes to the tax law, other factors are affecting retail working conditions. Larger employers are having a hard time attracting and keeping workers because of historically low unemployment rates. Job seekers can be pickier about where they work, and companies are trying to make themselves more attractive. Target had also announced in October that it would raise its starting hourly wage to $11, and said it would raise wages to $15 by the end of 2020. 
 
 Starbucks said workers will get a pay raise in April, their second increase this year. The company declined to specify how much more workers will be paid or what it pays them now. The job and recruiting site Glassdoor says baristas make about $9.60 an hour, based on an average of salaries shared by Starbucks employees. 
 
 The company will give at least $500 worth of Starbucks stock in April to employees at stores, support centers or bean roasting plants. Store managers will get $2,000 in stock grants. Those amounts are on top of what those workers were already going to receive this year, the Seattle-based company said. 
 
 All workers will also be able to earn paid sick time off based on the hours they worked starting in July. Previously, only those who worked in states that had sick leave laws were paid for time off due to illness. 
 
 Starbucks said the changes will cost the company more than $250 million. ||||| The J.P. Morgan Chase chairman and CEO expressed his strong support for the tax overhaul, predicting it will boost growth and job creation. 
 
 "I can't believe that people think having an uncompetitive tax system is a good thing," he said. "The real benefit comes over time. Competitive taxes [will lead to] more capital, more jobs, more companies investing here." 
 
 The bank said Tuesday it will spend $20 billion over five years to raise hourly pay for works and open branches in new U.S. locations in the wake of the tax cut. 
 
 "We're adding sales people, opening more branches," he said. "We think it is good for J.P. Morgan, and we think it's going to be very good for the economy." 
 
 Dimon played down criticism that the tax cuts were too generous to corporations, saying the benefits will extend to the rest of the country. 
 
 "When you make it sound like you're giving money to rich corporations, ... the fact is that is somewhat true [but] my argument is capital investment in America drives wages [for everyone]," he said. "We're supported by 40,000 vendors. When we open those 400 branches we're talking about, there's going to be hundreds of jobs supporting those branches." ||||| More than 125,000 employees at Walt Disney Company will each receive a $1,000 cash bonus, the company announced Tuesday. 
 
 The company will also invest $50 million to help hourly employees pay for college tuition starting with the upcoming fall semester, company chairman and chief executive officer Robert Iger announced Tuesday. Nearly 88,000 employees are eligible. 
 
 “I have always believed that education is the key to opportunity; it opens doors and creates new possibilities,” Iger said in a statement. “Matched with the $1,000 cash bonus, these initiatives will have both an immediate and long-term positive impact.” 
 
 Several large American companies have planned bonuses for employees recently. More than 67,500 Florida workers at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club will get paid $105.7 million in increases and bonuses, the company announced earlier this month, while also closing some Sam’s locations. Orlando-based Darden Restaurants said earlier this month the new GOP tax cut will prompt it to spend an additional $20 million on its 175,000-plus employees this year, but did not give specifics. 
 
 And this week, about 27,000 Universal Parks and Resorts employees, including 18,000 in Orlando, are among 100,000 or so Comcast employees who are receiving $1,000 bonuses. Comcast, which owns Universal Orlando parent NBCUniversal, announced its bonuses in December. 
 
 Both theme park companies said the extra money for employees came at least in part from the tax cut that reduced the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Comcast also cited “the FCC’s action on broadband” as a factor. 
 
 A financial analyst said Disney’s decision to give out bonuses wasn’t unexpected, as the multi-billion dollar company stands to save hundreds of millions of dollars from the new tax bill. 
 
 The money for bonuses “are a drop in the bucket,” said Tuna Amobi, CFRA Research senior analyst. “The financial impact is immaterial. I don’t think investors will be too focused one way or another.” 
 
 But it’s also a goodwill gesture to workers, especially after back-and-forth union contract negotiations, Amobi said. 
 
 “This might be another way to appease the workers,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for them to show they are sensitive to the employees.” 
 
 Under the new Disney bonuses, all full-time and part-time employees who have worked at Disney since Jan. 1 are eligible for the money — which will be split in two payments in March and September, a news release said. The employees can be hourly, salaried or tipped, but not executives. 
 
 For the program to help employees pay for school, Disney will give $50 million initially and then pay up to $25 million annually in future years. 
 
 “With this new plan, participants can pursue qualifying higher education or vocational training, including courses unrelated to their current responsibilities at Disney,” according to the release. 
 
 No other details were immediately available. 
 
 Tuesday’s announcement comes after Walt Disney World union members overwhelmingly rejected the company’s contract proposal Dec. 20, 2017. Disney’s offer would have given full-time and part-time employees a 3 percent or a 50-cent raise — whichever was higher — retroactive to Sept. 24, 2017, and again this September. Disney also proposed a one-time $200 bonus for full-time employees and those who get tips. 
 
 Two locals representing Disney World employees said in a statement Tuesday the $1,000 bonus was not related to the ongoing labor negotiations. 
 
 “Unionized Cast Members in Orlando are bargaining for real raises that make a lasting impact … ” according to a statement from Unite Here 362 and 737, which were part of a coalition of six unions that represents about 36,000 Disney employees. 
 
 The timing of the bonus during the labor negotiations confused some employees who didn’t understand if it was related, said Madeline Johnson, who works at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. 
 
 Johnson planned to spend her money on college tuition. The 23-year-old Davenport resident pays her way at University of Central Florida on her $11 per hour theme park job. 
 
 “A bonus is great,” Johnson said, although she added, “It’s a very small piece of the puzzle.” 
 
 Got a news tip? grusson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5470; Twitter, @GabrielleRusson 
 
 Union workers reject Disney's wage proposal »
– Republicans have a few more bragging points over their newly passed tax plan, which slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. Starbucks: The chain is giving its US workers pay raises and stock grants this year, citing the tax changes, per the AP. Employees also soon will be able to earn paid sick time off, and parental leave benefits will include non-birth parents. The company didn't provide details on the raises, but most baristas now make about $9.60 an hour. The company will give at least $500 worth of Starbucks stock in April to employees at stores, support centers, or bean roasting plants. Store managers will get $2,000 in stock grants. Disney: The Walt Disney Co. will give more than 125,000 employees a one-time $1,000 cash bonus and invest $50 million in an education funding program, reports the AP. Nearly 88,000 hourly employees will be eligible for the education program, which will cover tuition costs. One financial analyst tells the Orlando Sentinel the bonuses are a "drop in the bucket" compared to the hundreds of millions Disney will save in the tax cut. Dimon bullish: Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase tells CNBC he sees the tax cut resulting in strong economic growth and higher wages. "I think it's possible you're going to hit 4% sometime this year," he says. "I promise you, we are going to be sitting here in a year and you all will be worrying about inflation and wages going up too high."