News Releases

Nearly 150 Groups Call on Puzder to Withdraw from Labor Secretary Nomination

At its core, the role of the U.S. Secretary of Labor is to ensure compliance with basic legal standards and protect the most vulnerable workers against exploitation. This week, we learned that Labor Secretary nominee Andrew Puzder employed a housekeeper for many years and never paid legally-required taxes on her wages until his nomination was imminent.

Enough is enough.

Mr. Puzder is an experienced attorney and a CEO of a major fast-food chain, so he cannot plausibly claim ignorance of his legal obligations as an employer. We already have ample cause to doubt Mr. Puzder’s fitness for the job as Secretary of Labor, and this latest news confirms our view that he should not be confirmed.  If he cannot be trusted to follow even one of the most basic laws of employment in his own home, there is no way we can expect him to enforce the crucial laws the Department of Labor oversees on behalf of working people.

The undersigned call on the Trump Administration to withdraw the nomination of Mr. Puzder at once and find a suitable nominee who shows proper respect for working people and our nation’s employment laws.

  1. National Domestic Workers Alliance
  2. Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California (IDEPSCA)
  3. Dreamers Mothers in Action
  4. Domestic Workers Legacy Fund
  5. 9to5, National Association of Working Women
  6. 9to5 California
  7. 9to5 Colorado
  8. 9to5 Georgia
  9. 9to5 Wisconsin
  10. AFL-CIO
  11. The Agenda Project
  12. Alliance for Retired Americans
  13. Allies of Knoxville’s Immigrant Neighbors (AKIN)
  14. American Family Voices
  15. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
  16. American Federation of Teachers
  17. Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
  18. Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization
  19. Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC
  20. Bend the Arc Jewish Action
  21. A Better Balance
  22. Better Idaho
  23. Brazilian Worker Center
  24. CATA – The Farmworkers’ Support Committee
  25. Center for American Progress Action Fund
  26. Center for Community Change
  27. Center for Law and Social Policy
  28. Center for Popular Democracy
  29. Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa
  30. Central Florida Jobs With Justice
  31. Centro Laboral de Graton
  32. Chinese Progressive Association
  33. Coalition on Human Needs
  34. Center on Policy Initiatives
  35. Colorado Fiscal Institute
  36. Communications Workers of America
  37. Community Service Society of New York
  38. ConnectiCOSH
  39. Corporate Accountability International
  40. DC Employment Justice Center
  41. D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute
  42. Demos
  43. Disciples Justice Action Network
  44. Economic Policy Institute
  45. Equal Rights Advocates
  46. Fair World Project
  47. Family Values @ Work
  48. Farmworker Justice
  49. Feminist Majority Foundation
  50. Fe y Justicia Worker Center
  51. Fight for $15
  52. First Shift Justice Project
  53. Food Chain Workers Alliance
  54. Food and Water Watch
  55. Freedom Network, USA
  56. Friends of the Earth
  57. Fuse Washington
  58. Good Jobs Nation
  59. Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition
  60. Greater Syracuse Council on Occupational Safety and Health
  61. Health Justice Project
  62. Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of the Deaf (HEARD)
  63. In the Public Interest
  64. Indianapolis Worker Justice Center
  65. Institute for Science and Human Values
  66. Interfaith Center for Worker Justice of San Diego County
  67. Interfaith Worker Justice
  68. Interfaith Worker Justice of East Tennessee
  69. Interfaith Worker Justice of Rochester
  70. Interfaith Worker Justice Southern Maine
  71. Jewish Labor Committee
  72. Jobs With Justice
  73. Jobs With Justice East Tennessee
  74. Kentucky Equal Justice Center
  75. Knoxville-Oak Ridge Central Labor Council
  76. Labor & Employment Committee of the National Lawyers Guild
  77. Labor Project for Working Families
  78. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
  79. Legal Aid at Work
  80. LAANE
  81. Mabel Wadsworth Center
  82. Maine Equal Justice Partners
  83. Maine People’s Alliance
  84. Maine Women’s Lobby
  85. Main Street Alliance
  86. Massachusetts Jobs With Justice
  87. Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
  88. MassCOSH
  89. Mi Familia Vota
  90. Minnesota Worker Justice Group
  91. MomsRising
  92. NAACP
  93. National Center for Law and Economic Justice
  94. National Center for Lesbian Rights
  95. National Center for Transgender Equality
  96. National Council of Jewish Women
  97. National Education Association
  98. National Employment Law Project
  99. National Employment Lawyers Association
  100. National Immigration Law Center
  101. National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund
  102. National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW Local 2320
  103. National Partnership for Women & Families
  104. National Women’s Law Center
  105. NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
  106. New Labor
  107. New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty
  108. New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice
  109. Occupational Safety & Health Law Project, LLC
  110. Organic Consumers Association
  111. Outten & Golden
  112. Patriotic Millionaires
  113. Pesticide Action Network North America
  114. Philadelphia Unemployment Project
  115. Pilipino Workers Center of Southern
  116. Policy Matters Ohio
  117. Pride at Work
  118. Progress Michigan
  119. ProgressNow
  120. ProgressNow Colorado
  121. Public Citizen
  122. Resisting Injustice & Standing for Equality (RISE)
  123. Rhode Island Center for Justice
  124. Safe Work Washington
  125. San Francisco Progressive Workers Alliance
  126. Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
  127. Service Employees International Union
  128. South Caroline Legal Aid Justice Center
  129. Southern Maine Workers’ Center
  130. Southwest Women’s Law Center
  131. Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice
  132. Time for a Raise
  133. UltraViolet
  134. UFCW Local 227
  135. United Steelworkers (USW)
  136. Voices for Progress
  137. The Voter Participation Center
  138. Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs
  139. Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless
  140. Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO
  141. Western New York Council on Occupational Safety & Health
  142. Women Employed
  143. Women’s Voices.Women Vote Action Fund
  144. Workers’ Center of Central New York
  145. Workers’ Defense Project
  146. Working America
  147. Working Families Party
  148. Workplace Fairness
  149. Worksafe