[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 82 (Friday, April 30, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 22833-22834]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-09262]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 82 / Friday, April 30, 2021 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 22833]]

                Proclamation 10188 of April 27, 2021

                
Workers Memorial Day, 2021

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                America's workers are the backbone of our economy. In 
                every State, territory, and Tribal land, they leave 
                their homes and families and head to work--applying 
                their grit and skill to create, serve, and service all 
                those things that make our world turn. Even during our 
                Nation's most difficult periods, American workers have 
                always persevered, ensuring that our communities remain 
                resilient and that our Nation stands ready to confront 
                the unforeseen challenges of each new generation. 
                Though workers make tremendous sacrifices--especially 
                essential workers who selflessly serve their 
                communities during times of crisis--none of them should 
                have to risk injury, illness, or death in order to 
                provide for themselves and their families. Tragically, 
                thousands of workers are killed and millions more are 
                hurt or fall ill every year in the workplace--incidents 
                that are often preventable. On the 50th anniversary of 
                the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, we 
                reflect on the workers who have tragically lost their 
                lives or have been harmed in the workplace, and we 
                reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that every American 
                worker has a safe and healthy work environment.

                Over the past century, labor unions have fought hard--
                very often successfully--to draw attention to unsafe 
                workplace environments and organize for safer work 
                conditions and protections from the Federal Government. 
                In 1935, the National Labor Relations Act codified 
                private-sector workers' right to organize, collectively 
                bargain, and strike. Decades later, the passage of the 
                Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act in 1969 and the 
                Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970 enshrined a 
                promise that the wanton indifference to workers' 
                lives--the days of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire 
                and the Farmington Mine explosion--would no longer be 
                tolerated. Establishing and enforcing Federal workplace 
                safety and health standards has undoubtedly saved 
                lives.

                Despite the progress we have made cementing workplace 
                protections into law, many workers still fear 
                retaliation and retribution from management when they 
                are asked to perform unsafe tasks or work in unsanitary 
                conditions. This fear forces many workers to remain 
                silent, putting their lives and the lives of their 
                colleagues at risk. Alone, a single worker is often at 
                the mercy of their boss, with little chance of 
                rectifying an unsafe working environment created by 
                employers who cut corners in the name of profit. 
                United, and protected by law from intimidation and 
                coercion from their employers, workers can collectively 
                demand improved working conditions.

                In an economic system that puts too much power in the 
                hands of wealthy corporations and Wall Street, unions 
                give workers a way to band together, wield their full 
                power, and stand on equal footing with management. 
                Unions not only protect the physical wellbeing of 
                workers, but they also protect their financial 
                security; they protect workers' equity, too, helping 
                ensure that workplaces are free from harassment and 
                discrimination. Over the past half century, we have 
                seen the percentage of American workers represented by 
                unions decline dramatically. It is no surprise that 
                during this same period, the average incomes of the 
                bottom 90 percent of households in America have only 
                risen by about 1 percent. The decades-long assault 
                we've

[[Page 22834]]

                seen on union organizing is a direct assault on the 
                health and incomes of American workers.

                My Administration is committed to protecting the lives, 
                rights, and livelihoods of workers and reducing 
                workplace accidents, injuries, and fatalities. That is 
                why I strongly encourage the Congress to pass the 
                Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act of 2021--and 
                why I included the PRO Act as part of my American Jobs 
                Plan. The decision to form a union should belong to 
                workers alone--free from coercion, interference, or 
                intimidation--and this important legislation would 
                empower workers to exercise their right to organize, 
                hold management accountable for violating the rights of 
                their workers, and promote union elections that are 
                free from interference from employers.

                It is clear that we have not completely fulfilled our 
                obligation to protect our Nation's workers. We must 
                always remain vigilant against the notion that worker 
                endangerment is simply a necessary cost of doing 
                business. And we must always protect the right of 
                workers to unite and bargain for their own mutual aid 
                or protection.

                Today, we mourn each treasured life taken away on the 
                job. Those stricken by disease and fatal injuries as 
                they keep America running deserve a dedicated day of 
                grateful prayer and remembrance from the living. 
                Workers Memorial Day impels us to work for a future 
                where no one should have to risk their life for a 
                paycheck. When our Nation fully recovers from the 
                challenges we face today, it will be in large part 
                because of the sacrifice and perseverance of our 
                workers. We commit to holding close their memory and 
                investing in the health and safety of the colleagues 
                they have left behind.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 28, 
                2021, as Workers Memorial Day. I call upon all 
                Americans to observe this day with appropriate service, 
                community, and education programs and ceremonies in 
                memory of those killed or injured due to unsafe working 
                conditions.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord 
                two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                fifth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2021-09262
Filed 4-29-21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P