Labor activists decry “cruel” choice of former fast food CEO Andrew Puzder’s nomination to Donald Trump’s cabinet as US Labor Secretary

Andy Puzder on the Fed, Trump’s economic policy from FOX Business

US labor activists and left-wing politicians have bemoaned US President-Elect Donald Trump’s appointment of Carl’s Jr. former CEO Andrew Puzder for the critical position of Labor Secretary, worrying that the CEO’s wage-cutting philosophy will hinder the nationwide fight for higher wages and better worker protections. “Trump has once again shown how out-of-touch he is with what working Americans need,” said Service Employees International Union (SEIU) leader Mary Kay Henry. Contrary to Mary Kay Henry, Donald Trump had this to say about Andrew Puzder: “Andy will fight to make American workers safer and more prosperous by enforcing fair occupational safety standards and ensuring workers receive the benefits they deserve, and he will save small businesses from the crushing burdens of unnecessary regulations that are stunting job growth and suppressing wages.”

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Allegations of a past history of spousal abuse might complicate Andrew Puzder’s confirmation process, with information emerging that revealed testimony by his former wife Lisa Henning who said Puzder “attacked me, choked me, threw me to the floor, hit me in the head, pushed his knees into my chest, twisted my arm and dragged me on the floor, threw me against a wall, tried to stop my call to 911 and kicked me in the lower back.”

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According to The Guardian, a Trump campaign spokesperson emailed them to tell them that Lisa Henning had withdrawn these allegations though Lisa Henning was unavailable for comment when The Guardian attempted to contact her. Potential DNC leader Keith Ellison spoke strongly against Puzder’s nomination, saying “How can we expect Puzder to do his job and protect workers when his own employees are having their wages stolen?…Good jobs and fair wages aren’t in Puzder’s vocabulary.”

Puzder opposes raising the minimum wage as well as lowering the threshold after which corporations have to pay employees overtime. Criticism of Puzder’s nomination also arrived from an unexpected corner – The Federation for American Immigration Reform (Fair), an anti-immigrant group, opposed Puzder’s belief in creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers. “Puzder has served as an executive of a fast food conglomerate – an industry that has thrived on low-wage labor, illegal workers, and which has lobbied for greater access to foreign guest workers to maximize corporate profits,” Fair president Dan Stein wrote.

[The Guardian – Andrew Puzder criticized as ‘cruel and baffling’ choice for labor secretary]
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