Pudzer isn’t looking at the big picture

By Paul Aizley, Las Vegas

Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017 | 2 a.m.

In the article “As business owner, labor pick chafed at worker protections” (Las Vegas Sun, Jan. 18), Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of labor, Andrew Puzder, asks, “How do you pay somebody $15 an hour to scoop ice cream? How good could you be at scooping ice cream?”

If Pat scoops ice cream for an hourly wage, Pudzer should take a broader view. Consider why Pat is working: to pay for school, buy a car, pay medical bills or put a few dollars away for retirement. Pat’s wages should allow Pat to have a life. Can Puzder scoop all the ice cream? What is Puzder’s time worth? Pat is helping Puzder, and Pat is not a slave. Pat does not have a life if all s/he can do is pay for life’s minimal essentials. That is modern slavery.

What should be obvious to Puzder is that there is more to Pat’s life than scooping ice scream. With an adequate wage, Pat will be able to pay for more than life’s basic essentials and will not have to rely on help from the government to get by.

We hope for a secretary for labor, not a secretary for the corporation.