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Donald Trump’s pick for labor secretary is CEO of a fast food chain notorious for wage theft, with a long list of labor law and workplace safety violations. Andy Puzder is basically against the Department of Labor’s entire mission:
To foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.
Worker advocates are obviously up in arms:
On Thursday, fast-food workers and a variety of others protested Mr. Puzder’s nomination in more than a dozen cities across the country, in some cases at Hardee’s or Carl’s Jr. locations and in front of Department of Labor offices in others.
It would be a bad sign if Democrats weren’t fighting this nomination hard, but happily, they seem ready to fight, from the event held by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Patty Murray at which Carl's Jr. workers told their stories to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s strong condemnation:
“Mr. Puzder has spent his career rigging the system against American workers by opposing the overtime rule, opposing the minimum wage, and underpaying his own workers,” he said in a statement. “His nomination as labor secretary is proof positive that the incoming administration won’t keep its promises to working people.”
The good news—maybe—is that Puzder’s confirmation hearing has been delayed, twice, and currently doesn’t have a date set.
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