There were protests across the nation against Andrew Puzder

[LongTomH]

Yesterday, there were protests against the nomination of Andrew Puzder, CEO of Hardee's and Carl Jr, in 48 cities across the nation. Most of these protests were organized by low-wage workers and their supporters.

#NotOurLaborSec: Fast Food Workers Protest Puzder at Corporate Offices and Chains Nationwide:

Days before Puzder's confirmation hearing on Thursday, hundreds of cashiers and cooks are rallying in front of the St. Louis headquarters of Hardee's and the Anaheim, Calif. offices of CKE Restaurants, the conglomerate overseen by Puzder that includes Carl's Jr. and Hardee's restaurants.

Fast food workers aren't the only people objecting to Puzder's nomination. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent a blistering letter (pdf) to Puzder Monday in which she charged him with "a sneering contempt for the workers in your stores and a vehement opposition to the laws you will be charged with enforcing."

ndeed, workers say that wage theft, discrimination, and sexual harassment are rampant at Puzder's chains. Those allegations are backed up by publicly available data and have also prompted multiple investigations from the Department of Labor, as, media reports have noted.

Here is an excerpt from the Century Foundation's page on CKE Corp's labor violations:

Wage and hours also found significant violations. 456 workers at Hardee’s locations owned by a subsidiary (based in St. Louis, Missouri) of the CKE corporation were owed $58,000 in back wages that were unjustly withheld from employees. Investigators found that employers had cut corners to avoid paying overtime. Other investigations found that franchisees were paying below minimum wage and withholding pay. All of these violations can be found on the map above. A separate worker survey by Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) United included stories of punching-in to work later than when they began to work, not being paid overtime, and even having time cards altered to include fewer hours of work.

Oakland Carl's Jr. Targeted By Protesters Who Oppose Labor Secretary Nominee Andrew Puzder

Protesters outside Senator Marco Rubio's District Office in Doral, Florida on February 9 asking him to vote against President Donald Trump's nominee for Labor Secretary:



I was at the protest in St. Louis, with about 400 people from Kansas City, MO, Columbia, Mo and St. Louis. We had generous support from the UAW and Stand Up KC.