Fast food protest

Fast food workers and their advocates protest Andy Puzder's bid for Labor secretary at a Hardee's in Birmingham.

(Howard Koplowitz)

About 20 fast food workers from Birmingham rallied at a Hardee's to protest President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Hardee's and Carl Jr.'s CEO Andy Puzder as to head the Labor Department.

The protest, organized by the Fight for $15 and a Union campaign, called attention to Puzder's opposition to increasing the federal minimum wage and his support for using automation to replace fast food workers.

"How can you make America great if you're trying to make the poor poor and the rich rich," said Mark Myles, a local organizer who led the fast food workers through chants inside and outside the Hardee's on 5113 Messer Airport Hwy, referencing Trump's campaign slogan. "If you represent the labor, then you're [supposed to be] pro-worker, not pro-business. We feel like he's not going to represent us."

Birmingham fast food workers protesting Trump Labor Secretary nominee Andy Puzder at Hardee's pic.twitter.com/ESHJ99LlVV — Howard Koplowitz (@HowardKoplowitz) January 12, 2017

The Birmingham protest was among two dozen demonstrations held across the country on Thursday to protest Puzder's nomination.

Le'Darius Hilliard, who wrote Birmingham's minimum wage increase ordinance and serves as president of the Jefferson County Millennial Democrats, conceded that the protests likely would not derail Puzder's nomination, but said fast food workers were creating a movement for the long haul.

"This is not a losing battle. It's an ongoing thing," he said. "If we're actually going to talk about making America great again, we don't need someone who disenfranchises his own workers."

Derrick Miller, a 35-year-old McDonald's employee, used to work at the Hardee's where the protesters gathered. He said the fast food restaurant fired him on his day off, and that when he asked for unemployment his manager told him he wasn't entitled to benefits because he quit.

He said the $7.75 an hour he earns manning the grill at McDonald's is barely enough to support his four children, ages 15, 5, 4 and 2.

"Everything I make, I put it towards them," Miller said.

Tara Mitchell, 34, of Bessemer, said she has been working in fast food since she was 16. She said going from her current $9.95 an hour as a shift manager at Burger King to a $15 minimum wage would increase the quality of life she can provide for her three children.

"Maybe I could actually save to buy a house, go on vacation," she said.