A group of workers from CKE Restaurants endorsed CEO Andrew Puzder's nomination to be labor secretary and praised the company on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump tapped Puzder to serve as the head of the Labor Department in December, which would make him the first career businessman to lead the agency since 1981.
Puzder is CEO of CKE Restaurants, parent company of Hardee's and Carl's Jr. Jennifer Dowling, a small businesswoman who operates a New Mexico Carl's Jr. franchise, opened her first restaurant in 2005 and expanded to a second one in August 2016. She employs more than 50 people and her management team has all been promoted in-house. Dowling said on Tuesday that Puzder's experience in the private sector would benefit American workers and employers by overturning "burdensome regulations."
"He understands the needs of employees at all levels of the economy from entry-level workers to corporate executives," she said. "He will bring this same vision and leadership to the role of secretary of labor."
Workers at Hardee's and Carl's Jr. also appeared at the Rayburn House Office Building to show support for CKE, praising its flexible environment and their ability to quickly rise through the ranks from entry-level positions.
Corina Ortiz joined an Oregon Carl's Jr. four months ago after working as an exotic dancer for four years. She took an entry-level position and has already begun rising through the ranks after just four months at the company. Ortiz was recently promoted to shift manager, as was her sister. She said that she hopes to remain in the industry and open her own store in the future.
"I enjoy what I'm doing so far," she said. "It's a great place to work."
Cherie Abarquez got a job at a California Carl's Jr. after stopping into a store with her sister and children. She had lost custody of her children, while battling drug addiction, and was able to bring them back into her home after getting a job. She was hired "on the spot" and is scheduled to become shift leader in six weeks. She said the job has benefitted her with a "flexible schedule" that has enabled her to pick up and drop off her children from school.
"It's an awesome place to work. I love being there," she said.
"You can't please everybody. These [workers] are in the wrong business."
Unions and labor activists have opposed Puzder's nomination since it was announced. Those attacks have coincided with a flurry of unfair labor practice complaints filed by workers or ex-employees. In January, state and federal agencies received more than 30 unfair labor practice complaints against the company.
"The restaurant I worked at went an entire month without paying me a dime, and they only agreed to pay me after I stopped coming to work in protest," Angel Gallegos, a Carl's Jr. cook in Los Angeles, told CNN in a statement. "If Andy Puzder can't be trusted to pay his workers what they've earned, why should we expect him to enforce laws meant to protect working Americans?"
CKE operates on a franchising model that has been targeted by activists and labor regulators under the Obama administration. A company spokesman responded to the charges by saying that any violations were committed by franchisees, rather than the parent company.
A CKE spokesperson said in a statement that the company does not comment on pending litigation, adding that nearly all of its restaurants are franchise organizations.
"While we do not comment on pending litigation, we'd like to offer a reminder that CKE Restaurants is nearly 95 percent franchised. Each of these 2,769 franchise stores are run independently and solely responsible for their employees, management, and adherence to regulations and labor practices," the spokesperson said.
Patsy Eskison, 60, has worked at a Florida Hardee's for a year and a half. She defended the company, saying that the complaints do not represent the feelings of the typical worker. She said that there are bound to be complaints from a workforce of 75,000.
"If you have as many employees working at Hardee's and Carl's Jr … if you have 30 complaints, I think we're doing great because you're never going to make everybody happy," she said. "And anybody who says you can needs to just grow up."
In 2015, the National Labor Relations Board, the federal government's top labor arbiter, overturned three decades of precedent by declaring that umbrella franchise corporations could be held liable for labor violations committed by franchisees or subcontractors. Matthew Haller, spokesman for the International Franchise Association, said that the franchising operation has been threatened by regulators in recent years. He added that Puzder, who has served as an IFA board member, will help promote job growth.
"Labor bosses are doubling down on their failed message by trying to torpedo Andy Puzder's nomination, smearing the record of a successful franchise executive whose record of compliance with the laws he will oversee as labor secretary is exemplary," Haller said in an email. "These labor activists have capitalized on the era of fake news by publishing lies, perpetuating myths, and propping up politicians beholden to them to advance this false narrative. But at the end of the day, facts are stubborn things."
The CKE employees came to the House at the invitation of Rep. Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.), chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee. Foxx called on the Senate for a quick confirmation of Puzder, decrying "the vicious attacks" on the nominee and his company.
"The think tanks and union organizers behind this smear campaign want another community organizer as secretary of labor," she said. "Andy is someone who will fight for workers and job creators."
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold Puzder's confirmation hearing on Feb. 7 after several delays over disclosure filings and scheduling conflicts.