Business Insider • Kate Taylor
Workers’ rights advocates say President-elect Donald Trump’s likely appointment of Andrew Puzder to lead the Department of Labor could be a major setback in the fight for higher wages and greater protections for the nation’s most vulnerable workers.
“It’s hard to think of anyone less suited for the job of lifting up America’s forgotten workers — as Trump had campaigned on — than Puzder,” Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, said in a statement.
Puzder is the CEO of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s.
The International Franchise Association praised Puzder Thursday, calling his potential appointment an “exceptional choice.” But others say that Puzder’s past remarks and business record are worrisome.
“[Puzder] has done everything in his power to undermine the rights of American workers, from driving down wages to opposing overtime pay,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement Thursday.
“He opposes raising the minimum wage, threatens to replace restaurant workers with machines, has consistently opposed long-standing rules that protect workers and law-abiding employers, and demonstrated that he prizes corporate welfare and profits over workers’ well-being,” Owens said.