A top official of America’s largest healthcare workers union did not know who Andy Puzder was, after weeks of attacks from the Service Employees International Union against Puzder.
Debra Pucci, chief of staff to the president of 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, George Gresham, spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation (TheDCNF) Saturday in Washington, D.C.
TheDCNF asked Pucci about her thoughts on Andy Puzder.
“Andy? Sorry?” she replied.
“Andy Puzder, what are your thoughts?” TheDCNF repeated.
Pucci appeared confused, seemingly unaware Puzder’s existence.
“Oh sorry, Donald Trump’s pick for the Department of Labor,” TheDCNF explained to Pucci.
“Oh,” she replied. “Um … I think he’s problematic, um because of what his history has been and not pro-labor as some of the past cabinet members have been.” she replied.
“Ya know we want to protect out rights. We want to protect the right of our union; that we’re not into “right to work” states; that people have the choice of being in our union, and not be guided by the policies of people that are not pro-labor,” Pucci asserted after TheDCNF identified who Andy Puzder was. (RELATED: Trump Picks Fight For $15 Critic To Lead Labor)
Pucci said that she is concerned in terms of labor issues, social justice issues, civil rights issues.
“We were Hillary supporters” Pucci said. “We had a history with Hillary Clinton, and that’s who we felt was the best candidate to go and get this for the Democratic party,” she explained.
Pucci confirmed that SEIU Local 1199 financed the trip of 18 busloads of members from New York City and Baltimore to attend the march Saturday. “Thats why we collect dues,” she said with a chuckle.
Pucci said that she was “not hopeful at all” for the next four years. “His (Trump’s) cabinet is all billionaires who are business owners who have no knowledge of the areas they’ll be covering.”
“It’s not even about being business owners, it’s more about; are they knowledgeable about the area are their covering?” Pucci said in what would turn out to be an ironic assertion.
“Based on what we’ve seen and what we’ve read and the fact, they’re absolutely not, so thats worrisome for us, its not going to be people who represent working peoples interests and that why we’re here, Pucci said.
1199 SEIU represents over 400,000 members throughout Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C. and Florida. The SEIU has been very critical of Trump’s pick to the the DOL.
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