President-elect Donald Trump will nominate CKE Restaurants CEO Andy Puzder to head the Department of Labor. CKE is the parent company of fast food restaurants Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s.
“Andy Puzder has created and boosted the careers of thousands of Americans, and his extensive record fighting for workers makes him the ideal candidate to lead the Department of Labor,” President-elect Trump said. “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.”
MarketWatch reported Puzder previously talked up the benefits of replacing real human workers with technology and is opposed to raising the salary threshold for overtime pay.
The move was lauded by the National Federation of Independent Business.
“Small business owners are pleased that someone who knows what it takes to manage a successful company has been nominated to oversee the Department of Labor,” NFIB President and CEO Juanita Duggan said in a statement. “Many NFIB members are franchisees, a business model that was under attack during the Obama administration. Andy Puzder understands how these actions and other labor regulations directly harm American entrepreneurs and family businesses.”
The NFIB has multiple lawsuits against Department of Labor regulations, and Duggan said it’s hoped that Puzder will take immediate action to halt what it sees as regulatory overreach if he is confirmed.
However, Puzder’s nomination did not sit well with unions.
“He doesn’t support measures that would help families who work hard build a better life, such as the overtime rule, which would put more money in the pockets of millions of workers for the extra work they do,” SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry said in a statement. “He wants machines to replace workers because robots ‘never take a vacation’ – even though robots can not ever replace the work that people do. He has stood with Republican congressional leaders who want to repeal the Affordable Care Act — even though his underpaid workers and millions of working Americans depend on it for healthcare.”
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi was also critical of the pick. “American families need a Labor Department that stands up for workers’ wages, retirement security and safety, not one focused on reducing their pay,” Pelosi said. “Andy Puzder has a long record of fighting against the wages of working families.”
