CNN • Andrew Kaczynski

In two speeches in 2011, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of labor, fast-food executive Andrew Puzder, described the employees hired at his restaurants as the “best of the worst” available in the employment pool.

Puzder, who is the CEO of CKE Restaurants, the company that operates the fast-food chains Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., is scheduled to appear before a Senate committee on Feb. 2 for his confirmation hearing. Puzder has drawn criticism from Democrats and organized labor for his opposition to several of their key policy priorities, including a $15 federal minimum wage and the Labor department’s overtime rule.

Speaking to a students of Westmont College in February 2011, Puzder discussed the changes he made at CKE when he initially took over as its chief executive.

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Vice • Alex Swerdloff

Of all the nominees for cabinet positions in Donald Trump’s White House, the one that may have the most direct and immediate impact on restaurant and food industry workers is Andy Puzder, the current pick for United States Secretary of Labor.

Although CNN recently reported that the polarizing fast-food executive—currently the CEO of CKE restaurants, the parent company of Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, and the Green Burrito and Red Burrito brands—may be having “second thoughts” about the appointment, Puzder tweeted that he is looking forward to his confirmation hearing, which will likely take place next month.

Regardless of who is ultimately confirmed for the position, the next labor secretary’s policies could greatly affect roughly 14.4 million American restaurant workers, nearly four million of whom work in the fast food sector. Puzder’s nomination, however, has many food policy and labor experts deeply worried. They say his history of opposing minimum wage, overtime, and other pro-worker regulations portends a new era of strife for low-income workers—and may even lead to the replacement of workers who speak out… with machines.

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Newsweek • Robin Urevich

Last month, when President-elect Donald Trump named fast-food CEO Andrew Puzder to head the U.S. Department of Labor, many observers were left scratching their heads. Some questioned whether a man who’d argued strongly against government regulation could become the chief enforcer of some of the same overtime and paid sick day laws he’d publicly opposed. Less than a year ago, Puzder said he favored replacing some employees with robots, in part because robots don’t file age, sex or race discrimination lawsuits.

Puzder, who heads CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s burger joints, along with Red Burrito and Green Burrito shops, has also loudly proclaimed his opposition to Obamacare, as well as his enthusiasm for using sex to sell fast food. Carl’s Jr. ads routinely feature bikini-clad models lustfully gobbling thousand-calorie burgers. “We believe in putting hot models in our commercials, because ugly ones don’t sell burgers,” reads a 2011 company press release.

What is less well known is the company’s contentious record on civil rights. As Puzder, who is an attorney, may have inadvertently suggested in touting robots to replace workers, the company has a problem with racial discrimination and sexual harassment.

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Morning Consult • Alex Rowell

President Donald Trump promised during the campaign that his administration would protect and fight for the American worker. However, talk is cheap, and Trump’s actions — past and present — make it clear that his real priorities lie elsewhere. Trump’s business past is filled with allegations of stiffing contractors and union-busting. And when tasked with choosing a leader to fulfill the U.S. Department of Labor’s mission to “foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of the United States,” Trump nominated fast food CEO Andrew Puzder — someone who is squarely on the side of big business.

Puzder’s fierce opposition to pro-worker policies and his company’s record of underpaying and mistreating workers contradicts the mandate of the Labor Department, long a bulwark for worker rights and protections.

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Buzzfeed • Cora Lewis

Fast food CEO Andy Puzder has faced a rough few weeks since Donald Trump nominated him to become Secretary of Labor, with activist groups engaging in a blitz of criticism over his history of opposition to raising the federal minimum wage.

In response, Puzder is following a time-honored technique: One by one, he’s blocking his enemies on Twitter.

The Hardees and Carl’s Jr. CEO has blocked the Twitter accounts of at least five labor advocacy groups. This week, he even blocked one of the country’s most prominent union leaders, Mary Kay Henry of the 2-million member Service Employees International Union.

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