Trump Labor Nominee/Fast Food CEO Just Announced Dozens of Layoffs. Why Didn’t Trump Save These Jobs?
Trump Has Habit of Claiming Credit for New or “Saved” Jobs. This Was a Lost Opportunity to Actually Stop Some Layoffs.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Since November, President-elect Donald Trump has gone to great lengths to claim credit for new and saved jobs–even if he does not deserve the credit. Today, following news that the fast food company run by Trump Labor Secretary nominee Andy Puzder will be laying off dozens of workers, Allied Progress released the following statement raising the question of why the President-elect didn’t save these jobs:
“For Donald Trump, it’s time to put up or shut up. For weeks he’s been claiming credit for new and ‘saved’ jobs–even when he doesn’t deserve the credit,” said Allied Progress Executive Director Karl Frisch. “Today’s news that Andy Puzder, Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary, will be laying off dozens of workers at his fast food company makes us wonder why the president-elect didn’t save these jobs? How hard could it possibly be for a man as confident in his job-saving super powers as Trump to convince one of his own nominees to stop these layoffs?”
Andy Puzder is CEO of CKE Restaurants, Inc., the parent company of fast food chains Carl’s Junior and Hardees. According to Bloomberg News, Puzder “notified 51 workers” in California this week “that they will be laid off in March when the company relocates to Nashville.”
Last month, Allied Progress launched Trump Transparency Project, an initiative aimed at holding the incoming administration accountable for its economic appointments and policies that will hurt America’s middle class. The Project will continue to hold the Trump administration accountable for advancing policies that hurt working Americans.
MORE BACKGROUND ON PUZDER
- Puzder Says Many Unskilled Workers Don’t “Produce Enough Economic Value” to Warrant Minimum Wage Increases and That If Giving Such Workers a Living Wage Worked, the Soviet Union Would Be the World’s Dominating Economy. In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, Andy Puzder wrote: “The point is simple: the feds can mandate a higher wage, but some jobs don’t produce enough economic value to bear the increase.” He also wrote, “If government could transform unskilled entry-level positions into middle-income jobs, the Soviet Union would be today’s dominant world economy. Spain and Greece would be thriving.” [Andy Puzder, “Minimum Wage, Maximum Politics,” Wall Street Journal, October 5, 2014.]
- Puzder Thinks Welfare Programs Should Be Changed into Tax Credits: In an op-ed published in The Hill, Andy Puzder wrote that welfare programs that provide food, housing, and medical benefits should instead be transformed into tax credits. He wrote, “The IRS recently estimated that nearly 28 million Americans received more than $66 billion in [Earned Income Tax Credit] EITC payments in 2013, lifting an estimated 6.5 million people out of poverty, including 3.3 million children. While programs that provide food, housing, and medical benefits are certainly important, the EITC is more effective in helping people rise out of poverty. These existing programs should be rolled into an expanded EITC.” [Andy Puzder, “More Work, Less Welfare,” The Hill, June 22, 2015.]
- Puzder Doesn’t Think There’s a Problem with Not Paying Workers for Overtime: In an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal, Andy Puzder wrote “Rewarding time spent rather than time well spent won’t help address this problem. Workers who aspire to climb the management ladder strive for the opportunity to move from hourly-wage, crew-level positions to salaried management positions with performance-based incentives. What they lose in overtime pay they gain in the stature and sense of accomplishment that comes from being a salaried manager. This is hardly oppressive. To the contrary, it can be very lucrative for those willing to invest the time and energy, which explains why so many crew employees aspire to be managers.” [Andy Puzder, “Obama’s Overtime Boomerang,” Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2014.]
ABOUT ALLIED PROGRESS
Allied Progress is a nationwide, progressive, advocacy organization that uses hard-hitting research and creative campaigns to hold Wall Street and other powerful special interests accountable. Since launching in 2015, the organization has led high-profile campaigns on several issues including reforming the payday lending industry and exposing the special interests working to cripple the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
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To speak with Allied Progress about this release, please contact Mike Czin, 202-286-7654 mczin@skdknick.com.
Allied Progress uses hard-hitting research and creative campaigns to hold powerful special interests accountable and empower hardworking Americans.