[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 2, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 27395-27396]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09414]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 84 / Tuesday, May 2, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 27395]]

                Proclamation 10558 of April 27, 2023

                
Workers Memorial Day, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                A record 160 million Americans get up and go to work 
                every day to provide for their families, build their 
                communities, and earn a piece of the American Dream. 
                But too many are exposed to unsafe working conditions, 
                injured, or even killed in preventable accidents on the 
                job. And millions of firefighters, police officers, and 
                other first responders put their lives on the line as a 
                matter of course to keep the rest of us safe. We need 
                to have their backs. On Workers Memorial Day, we honor 
                every American worker who has sacrificed their own life 
                or well-being; we stand with the unions that fight for 
                them every day; and we recommit to protecting the 
                fundamental right to a safe and healthy workplace.

                I ran for office to restore the backbone of America--
                the middle class--and I am proud to be the most pro-
                labor President in history. The middle class built this 
                country, and union workers built the middle class. 
                Nearly every law protecting workers' rights passed 
                because unions fought for it. That includes the 
                Occupational Safety and Health Act, which took effect 
                51 years ago today, laying the groundwork for 
                foundational health, safety, and whistleblower 
                protections that continue to protect workers 
                nationwide.

                My Administration has built on that legacy from the 
                start, securing $200 million in American Rescue Plan 
                funding to help keep workers safe and guarantee paid 
                sick leave during the COVID-19 pandemic. We protected 
                pensions for millions of workers and retirees so that 
                hardworking Americans can enjoy the healthy and stable 
                retirement they worked their whole lives to secure. The 
                historic infrastructure, manufacturing, and clean 
                energy laws that I signed as part of our Investing in 
                America agenda are spurring billions of dollars in 
                private investments and helping to create millions of 
                good-paying jobs while requiring strong labor practices 
                like prevailing wages, expanding Registered 
                Apprenticeships, and protecting benefits for coal 
                miners with black lung disease. Throughout, we have 
                stood against union busting and supported striking 
                workers, who fight for better pay and safer conditions. 
                We have cracked down on wage theft and worker 
                misclassification so employers cannot avoid paying fair 
                wages or full benefits. We are making it easier for 
                workers to report abuses and unsafe working conditions, 
                even if they are undocumented--improving safety, 
                boosting pay, and raising standards for everyone.

                At the same time, my Administration has strengthened 
                workplace safety enforcement and training, hiring 
                hundreds of new workplace inspectors and increasing 
                site visits by 30 percent. We launched a program to 
                inspect workplaces for extreme heat, which can harm 
                construction, farm, factory, warehouse, delivery, and 
                other workers. We have invested more than $100 million 
                in training farm workers to avoid injuries. And we have 
                fought for first responders by cracking down on toxic 
                PFAS--the so-called ``forever chemicals'' that have 
                been used for years to produce firefighting equipment 
                and fire suppression agents, making firefighters sick--
                and funding research into PFAS alternatives. I also 
                signed bills qualifying more than 10,000 Federal 
                firefighters for critical workers' compensation and 
                extending tax-free retirement benefits to firefighters 
                permanently disabled on the job and to families

[[Page 27396]]

                of late firefighters who faced trauma. My latest Budget 
                would invest $430 million more to help Federal agencies 
                promote safe worksites, protect benefits, increase 
                penalties for labor violations, and end child labor for 
                good. Our Administration has worked across the board to 
                expand access to health care through the Affordable 
                Care Act and Medicaid, saving millions of families $800 
                a year each on premiums. Today, more Americans have 
                health insurance than ever before in our history.

                We have more to do. For starters, the United States is 
                still one of the only countries in the world that does 
                not guarantee paid sick leave, forcing too many workers 
                to have to choose between a paycheck and caring for a 
                sick or injured loved one or for themselves. The 
                Congress needs to pass sick days for all and a national 
                paid leave program right away to change that.

                A safe and healthy workplace is fundamental. In the 
                United States of America, no one should have to risk 
                their lives just to make a living. Today, we honor 
                those workers who put it all on the line, and we keep 
                their families in our hearts. We celebrate the 
                whistleblowers and union organizers whose courage and 
                persistence has saved countless lives, and we join them 
                in standing up for all American workers, who are the 
                best in the world.

                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, 
                2023, 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-three, and of the Independence of 
                the United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                seventh.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2023-09414
Filed 5-1-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P