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Local
protesters
part of
national
opposition
to Labor
Secretary
choice
Fast
food CEO
Andy
Puzder
has
history
of
worker
violations,
mistreatment,
organizers
say
Dozens
of low
wage
workers
and
their
supporters
will
stage a
protest
at a
Southeast
Michigan
Hardee’s
on
Thursday,
in
opposition
to
President-Elect
Donald
Trump’s
embattled
choice
for
labor
secretary,
Andy
Puzder.
The CEO
of CKE,
the fast
food
restaurant
chain
that
includes
Hardee’s
and
Carl’s
Jr., “is
not the
right
choice
for
labor
secretary,
but an
incredibly
horrible
one,”
for the
position,
said
Pastor
W.J.
Rideout
III, one
of the
organizers
of the
D15
campaign
for a
$15
hourly
wage and
the
right to
form a
union.
“He’s
known
for
breaking
labor
laws,
discrimination,
stealing
wages
and
being
pro-poverty.
We think
it’s
important
that we
make his
record
known to
show
that
he’s the
wrong
guy for
the
job.”
In
addition
to
presiding
over
companies
that
stole
workers’
wages,
violated
overtime
laws and
forced
employees
onto
public
assistance,
Puzder
has made
several
incendiary
comments
about
workers,
including
his
comment
that,
“what
they
(workers)
lose in
overtime
pay,
they
gain in
the
sense of
stature
and
accomplishment.”
Thursday’s
protest
comes
two days
after a
Congressional
committee
meeting
that
included
testimony
from
Hardee’s
workers,
and a
few
weeks
ahead of
a Senate
confirmation
hearing.
Background:
According
to CKE’s
financial
disclosures,
Puzder
was paid
between
$4
million
and $10
million
in
recent
years,
which
means he
makes
more in
one day
than he
pays his
minimum
wage
workers
in one
year.
Yet he
has been
an
outspoken
opponent
of
minimum
wage
hikes
that
would
allow
his
workers
to meet
their
basic
needs.
Researchers
at the
University
of
California
at
Berkeley
found in
2013
that
fast-food
CEOs
like
Puzder
cost
taxpayers
$7.3
billion
per year
in
public
assistance
by
holding
down pay
for
their
employees.
As labor
secretary,
Puzder
would be
charged
with
upholding
many of
the
labor
laws and
regulations
CKE
routinely
violated
during
his time
as CEO.
In 60
percent
of
Department
of Labor
investigations
since
2009,
CKE
restaurants
and
franchises
were
found to
have
violated
wage and
hour
laws.
Since
Puzder
became
CEO of
CKE, the
Occupational
Safety
and
Health
Administration
found 98
safety
violations
at
Carl’s
Jr. and
Hardee’s
locations,
with 36
of them
capable
of
causing
death or
grave
physical
harm.
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