President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Andrew Puzder, the chief executive officer of CKE — owner of Carl’s Jr. and Hardees—to be the U.S. Secretary of Labor.
 |
| Andrew Puzder, CEO of Carl’s Jr. and Hardees, is President-Elect Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Department of Labor. |
Puzder, an attorney, has never served in government, and his only connection to the Labor Department previously was facing prosecution by its attorneys for violating labor laws.
Puzder was a significant donor and senior economic advisor to both the Romney and Trump campaigns. In recent years, he has also become a high-profile advocate for guest worker programs and automating the workplace, while opposing expanded overtime, raising the minimum wage and making it easier for low-wage workers to organize. He even came out against meal breaks.
PUZDER on PAYING HIS EMPLOYEES
PUZDER on ORGANIZING
PUZDER on OVERTIME
PUZDER on AUTOMATION
PUZDER on WORKER PROTECTIONS
PUZDER on IMMIGRATION
Puzder said his experience was that immigrant workers in California were “very hard working, dedicated, creative, people who really appreciate they have a job. With franchises in [the Midwest] you often get people that are saying ‘I can’t believe I have to work THIS job,’ where with the immigrant population, they say ‘Thank god I have this job.’”
Puzder’s employees were primarily low-skilled, low-wage workers, but he also believed the reform bill would affect all levels of the labor force.
“We’d have access, not to just to low-skilled workers in our business, but the high-skilled workers that everyone talks about,” he said.
