Hundreds Rally in DC for Workers' Rights

Celebrating the withdrawal of Andrew Puzder for consideration as Secretary of Labor, CWAers and other union members, low-wage federal contract workers, allies from the U.S. House and Senate including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, faith leaders, and more rallied on Capitol Hill, showing strength for the fights that lie ahead.

Justin Smith, a T-Mobile worker from Wichita, Kans., spoke at the rally, calling on President Trump to keep his campaign promises to American workers.

"Recently, I started joining together with my colleagues in an organization called T-Mobile Workers United, affiliated with the Communications Workers of America," Smith said. "Since we started organizing, the company has fought us with firings, gag rules, threats, surveillance, and even an illegal company union."

"President Trump ran his campaign on a promise that American workers would not be forgotten. The President should make sure that foreign companies treat American workers with respect. He should stop giving taxpayer dollars to companies that break the law."

Brittany Butler, a federal contract worker and leader of Good Jobs Nation, told the crowd that the federal government was the largest employer of low-wage workers. "Even though we work hard, we struggle to put food on our table. That's why we're standing together," she said.

T-Mobile worker Justin Smith called on President Trump to keep his campaign promises to American workers.

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Senator Bernie Sanders spoke at the rally.

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The "Puzbots," robots – exactly the kind of workers that Andy Puzder likes – made an appearance. One of Puzder's more outrageous statements was that he preferred robots to human workers because, "They're always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there's never a slip-and-fall case, or an age-, sex- or race-discrimination."