Thursday, December 8, 2016

What did Donald Trump do today?

He chose a fast-food CEO whose restaurants repeatedly violated labor laws as his Labor Secretary.

Andrew Puzder is the CEO of a restaurant group that includes the Hardee's and Carl's Jr. chains. Those restaurants were repeatedly found to be in violation of the FLSA, the law that governs wage theft, overtime, and worker safety among other things. He is a lawyer but has no experience in government.

Puzder's current companies would benefit directly from his ability to help overturn an NLRB rule holding restaurant chains liable for illegal work practices they encourage in their franchises.

Puzder is an outspoken opponent of raising the minimum wage and has spoken fondly of the prospect of all-automated fast food restaurants, saying that touchscreens and robots are "always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there's never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case.”

So what?

  • It's bad if a Labor Secretary's main experience with labor law is as a violator of it.
  • Wage-earners who voted for Trump in the hope of making more money will probably not be too happy about a Labor Secretary who sees higher wages as a problem.
  • Workers who voted for Trump in the hope of keeping their jobs will probably not be too happy about a Labor Secretary who sees automation as preferable to human workers.