FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 15, 2017
This afternoon, in the first defeat for President Donald Trump’s corporate cabinet nominees, Andrew Puzder announced his withdrawal from consideration to be the Secretary of Labor. As CEO of CKE Restaurants (parent company of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. fast-food chains), Puzder demonstrated that he was unfit to represent the interests of working people.
“We made history, and we’re going to keep fighting against policies and politicians who don’t have our interests at heart,” said Sarita Gupta, executive director of Jobs With Justice. “We’re hailing this victory but our work isn’t over. We will continue to hold the line that a Labor Secretary must be a champion of working people.”
Jobs With Justice is proud to have led the charge against Puzder’s nomination, together with the National Employment Law Project, and a broad, diverse coalition that galvanized the fight against his nomination.
In choosing Puzder, President Trump sent a message to working Americans that he wouldn’t follow through on his campaign promise to raise wages and create jobs. We stood firmly opposed to Puzder for reaping in millions while underpaying the people who work for him, for his ads demeaning women, his dehumanizing views, and his record of breaking the very labor laws he would oversee as Labor Secretary.
Today’s victory confirms the power that working people have when we unite together for a common goal. We hope that the President heeds our call, and nominates a Secretary of Labor who will serve and protect all of America’s working men and women.
