Apparently, Donald Trump will pick Andy Puzder as his Secretary of Labor.
Having myself served as Secretary of Labor, I cannot imagine someone more unsuited to the job of advancing the cause of working people in America.
If Puzner is confirmed, the working people who voted for Trump will suffer.
Puzner is a sworn foe of raising the minimum wage—even though, as the CEO of CKE restaurants, the parent company of fast-food burger chains Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, Puzner last year made more in one day ($17,192) than his typical full-time minimum wage worker made all year ($15,130).
Puzder also opposes the Labor Department’s new rule expanding overtime pay. He says it diminishes the prestige of entry-level management jobs.
In his frequent op-ed and cable news commentaries, Puzder has championed all aspects of right-wing trickle-down economics—even though, as most economists will tell you, it’s a cruel hoax.
It’s cruel because in an era of almost unprecedented inequality, giving tax breaks to the rich means less revenue for services on which lower-income Americans depend. It’s a hoax because it doesn’t work. Nothing trickles down.
Puzner is also viciously anti-union. He’s a member of the Job Creators Network, a group of CEOs that promotes a conservative business agenda and is tied to anti-union astroturf operative Richard Berman.
Puzder doesn’t believe in regulating companies to ensure the safety and security of workers.
In short, Andy Puzder is wildly unqualified to be Secretary of Labor of the United States. I’m not even sure why he would want the job. Maybe he thinks it would be fun to eviscerate every protection American workers have gained over the past 70 years.
A couple of days before the presidential election, Puzder told Fox Business that serving in a Trump administration would be “the most fun you could have with your clothes on.”
His fun will be American workers’ pain.
