    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 19 (Monday, May 16, 1994)]
    [Pages 1051-1052]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 6688--Labor History Month, 1994

    May 10, 1994

    By the President of the United States of America

    A Proclamation

        For more than a century, the labor movement in the United States has
    served as a major force for our economic and social progress as a
    Nation.
        American trade unionists have fought for and achieved benefits for
    all citizens. At the turn of the century, the average worker made about
    ten dollars for a 60-hour week, and more than 2 million children
    similarly worked long hours for even less pay. Prior to the formation of
    a national labor movement in 1881, safe working conditions, regular
    hours, decent living wages, paid holidays, and vacations were often mere
    dreams.

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    Emergency and family leave were almost unimaginable.
        The struggle of American workers against these appalling
    circumstances transformed our Nation. Disasters, like the 1911 Triangle
    Shirtwaist Fire and the 1991 Hamlet Poultry Fire, and triumphs, like the
    Sanitation Workers struggle for dignity and union representation in
    1968, have played a significant role in shaping American life. By
    studying labor history, we find the foundations of work life in
    America--the 8-hour day, the 40-hour week, security in unemployment and
    old age, protection for the sick and injured, equal employment
    opportunity, protection for children, and health and safety standards.
    In addition, labor history shows that American workers were in the
    forefront of the effort to make public education available for every
    child.
        As an American, I am proud of the accomplishments of our labor
    movement, through which we all enjoy better lives. In issuing this
    proclamation to observe Labor History Month, I recognize that our work
    for economic and social progress in America is not over. As we approach
    the 21st century, the next chapter of labor history must be
    characterized by a strong voice for America's workers. This will include
    establishing partnerships of employers and workers, cooperating to
    achieve safe, high-performance work environments, improving the skills
    of American workers and the competitiveness of American businesses, and
    enhancing human dignity in the American workplace.
        Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, 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 the
    month of May 1994, as ``Labor History Month.'' I call upon the people of
    the United States to observe this period with appropriate programs,
    ceremonies, and activities.
        In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of
    May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and of
    the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and
    eighteenth.
                                                William J. Clinton

    [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:53 a.m., May 11,
    1994]

    Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on May 12.