Washington, D.C. — Karla Walter, Director of Employment Policy at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement on the nomination of Andrew Puzder, CEO of the parent company of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., to serve as the secretary of labor under President-elect Donald Trump:
Donald Trump ran on a platform of standing up for working people, but his nomination of Andrew Puzder for U.S. Department of Labor secretary shows that Trump’s administration will do just the opposite, creating an administration that works for CEOs, Wall Street, and the wealthiest few. Puzder—a billionaire who makes more in one day than the typical fast-food worker makes in a year—is a vocal opponent of standards to raise workers’ wages, including minimum-wage increases and expanding overtime to more workers. Puzder has complained about workplace standards that allow his own employees to take meal breaks and has said that he would be interested in replacing his workers with machines because, according to Puzder, machines are “always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there’s never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case.”
Unfortunately, Puzder’s anti-worker rhetoric is already par for the course for the Trump administration. Just yesterday, the president-elect took to Twitter to attack a union local president for standing up for hundreds of Carrier workers who will lose their jobs though an incentive deal worked out by the new administration.
Americans deserve a labor secretary who will stand up for workers, not one who is hostile toward workers and undermines workers’ economic well-being at every turn.
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Allison Preiss at [email protected] or 202.478.6331.