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When
Donald Trump was running for President, he specifically targeted the
“white working class”, telling them that he’d
prevent their jobs from leaving the country, that he’d bring
back manufacturing jobs, and that he’d revive the oil and steel
industries. He hasn’t taken office yet, but he has already
celebrated the fact that Carrier, a furnace manufacturer in
Indianapolis, Indiana, has agreed to keep jobs in the United States,
even though they had earlier announced that they would have moved
jobs to Mexico.
The
Carrier deal that Trump has been crowing about is so deceptive, that
some business writers describe it as a scam and a union leader
accused Trump of lying his hind parts off. Trump says he saved over
a thousand jobs, but the real number may be closer to 730. Carrier
will still relocate more than 500 jobs to Mexico, and they had
already planned to keep about 300 jobs in the United States. So
Trump may have “saved” 400 jobs, not 800 or a thousand,
and Indiana governor Pence had to give up $7 million in tax benefits
to keep the jobs here. Trump and Pence have also signaled that they
are willing to play “let’s make a deal” on a case
by case basis to keep jobs in the United States, instead of using
public policy to encourage the development of US jobs and to limit
the mobility of capital. And, Carrier is still closing another
Indiana plant, but there has been no intervention for that closure.
Now,
Mr. Trump has indicated that Andrew F. Puzder is his choice for
Secretary of Labor. Puzder, the CEO of CKE Restaurant Holdings, a
company that franchises Hardee and Carl’s Jr. fast food
outlets, has opposed minimum wage increases, worker protections, paid
sick leave, and the Affordable Care Act. He has said that he
welcomes automation in the restaurant industry because machines are
“always polite. . .never take a vacation, never show up late,
there’s never a slip and fall or an age, sex, or race
discrimination case.” While the Department of Labor has been
the advocate for workers, Mr. Puzder seems to be an advocate for
worker exploitation.
Okay,
y’all working class white folks, those of you who voted for Mr.
Trump, are you ready to swallow a bitter pill? Because Mr. Trump has
shown you, yet again, what he thinks of you. The historian Doris
Kearns Goodwin wrote about President Abraham Lincoln’s Team of
Rivals. What Mr. Trump seems to have assembled is a team of
war-mongering generals and bombastic billionaires. The Puzder
appointment, then, is consistent with Mr. Trump’s philosophy,
but it is inconsistent with the notion that the Labor Department
should be an advocate for workers, and should regulate labor markets
and enforce labor legislation.
The
minimum wage was stuck at $5.15 an hour for ten years before it was
increased in 2007. Then, Congress approved a three-step increase,
raising the wage to $5.85 an hour in July 2007, then $6.55 an hour in
2008, finally increasing to $7.25 an hour in 2009. It has been stuck
there ever since. President Obama has recommended an increase of
the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, less than the $15 an hour that
many activists are advocating through the Fight for Fifteen. Puzder
does not think the minimum wage should be more than $9 an hour. He
also opposes Obama Administration efforts to give overtime pay to
more workers.
It
would be crass to say that Puzder purchased his position, but it is
important to note that he contributed more than $300,000 to the Trump
campaign. His nomination is consistent with that of Oklahoma
attorney general Scott Pruitt, a climate change denier, to head the
Environmental Protection Agency. Just as Pruitt has no intention of
protecting the environment, prioritizing energy production over
environmental protection, Puzder has no intention of advocating for
or protecting workers.
Lots
of people who voted for Mr. Trump swear they aren’t racists and
say they simply voted for “change”. If Mr. Trump and Mr.
Puzder have their way, they’ll get chump change for hourly pay.
Is that the change they want to believe in?
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