[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.

[[Page 1052]]

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.