In “headlines that make me go ‘hmmm:’” Workers Say Andrew Puzder Is ‘Not the One to Protect’ Them, But He’s Been Chosen To.
This New York Times piece by Jodi Kantor and Jennifer Medina deserves some credit for actually including workers’ voices. Sample:
Guadalupe Urrustieta, 47, said that when he was a manager at two Carl’s Jr. locations north of Los Angeles, he was routinely asked by supervisors to make his employees work through unpaid meal breaks without compensation, so that labor costs would not go up. He said he also had to work several hours a week without pay.
“I left the company because I didn’t agree with a lot of the things that were happening,” Mr. Urrustieta said. To him, Mr. Puzder is an improbable labor secretary, “not the one to protect workers.”
But that headline is a harsh reminder of what’s going on with Donald Trump’s cabinet picks. In theory, the labor secretary is in charge of a department with the mission of promoting workers’ welfare, improving working conditions, and “assur[ing] work-related benefits and rights.” In reality, Trump has chosen someone with a record of doing the opposite—and he’s chosen Puzder to keep doing the opposite. His labor secretary has been chosen to hurt workers, and if that’s not an uncommon Republican move, Trump’s being especially blatant about it. Just as his EPA pick is about doing the opposite of protecting the environment, his education secretary pick is committed to dismantling public education, and his energy secretary nominee wanted to abolish the Department of Energy.
So, no, New York Times headline writer, Andy Puzder has not been chosen to protect workers. Even if that’s the actual description of the job he’s been chosen for.