Workers and Capital District Residents Rally Support for Senator Schumer’s Call for Trump to Withdraw Fast Food CEO Andy Puzder for Labor Head
Albany, New York – Days ahead of Andy Puzder’s confirmation hearing for labor secretary, workers in the Fight for $15, labor organizations and community supporters rallied to demand the fast-food mogul withdraw his nomination or be rejected by the U.S. Senate.
The protests mark’s an intensification of the Fight for $15’s opposition to Puzder’s nomination, which is imperiled by a drumbeat of complaints against the fast-food mogul and his chain, including rampant wage theft, sexual harassment, tax avoidance, domestic abuse, and sexism.
“Nurses see plainly the link between decent wages and healthcare– it is an essential link,” said RN and NYSNA member Jennifer Gunderman from Bellevue Woman’s Hospital “That’s why we are forthright in our support of the Fight for $15. The prospect of a U.S. labor secretary who has devoted himself to undercutting fair, living wages for workers is appalling. Mr. Puzder’s appointment would set back working families across the nation and do harm to their health and welfare.”
“Andrew Puzder is pro automation and anti wages, this alone should disqualify him from consideration for Secretary of Labor,” said Fast food worker, Liz James. “Nothing in his resume or recent history shows that he would be the right person for this job, or that he would serve with the best interest of working class people. We don’t need another corporate billionaire in our government, Puzder is not our guy.”
“In the last 30 years, working class people have doubled their productivity while wages have fallen. Andrew Puzder thinks we should address this horrible trend by replacing their jobs with automation,” said Citizen Action Legislative and Campaigns Director, Jessica Wisneski. “What this country needs is someone that is pro-labor and ready to stand up for the rights of workers everywhere. When it’s time to vote Puzder should be a no.”
The protest in Albany is one of more than two-dozen rallies across the country Monday to declare that Puzder is unfit to serve. Hundreds of fast-food cooks and cashiers will also converge on CKE’s corporate offices in Anaheim, Calif., and on Hardee’s corporate headquarters in St. Louis, Mo.
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