Trump to nominate fast food exec Puzder as Labor Secretary

Puzder

President-elect Donald Trump continues to choose cabinet members for his administration and recently announced plans to nominate Andrew Puzder, 66, as Secretary of Labor, The New York Times reports.

Puzder is the CEO of CKE Restaurants, Inc., the company that owns the Hardees and Carl’s Jr. fast food franchises. He  has been an outspoken critic of the Obama administration and what he considers to be excessive government regulation of businesses.

If Puzder is confirmed, he will oversee the Department of Labor, which includes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

According to a report from the Los Angeles Times, Trump released a statement saying that Puzder would “fight to make American workers safer and more prosperous by enforcing fair occupational safety standards and ensuring workers receive the benefits they deserve.”

The Times reports that Richard Trumka, the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., has called Puzder “a man whose business record is defined by fighting against working people.”