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