[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 18 (Monday, May 6, 1996)]
[Pages 786-787]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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Proclamation 6891--Labor History Month, 1996

May 3, 1996

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    In the early 1900s, millions of Americans left their farms to begin 
new lives as factory workers. Sadly, many of these citizens found 
neither secure employment nor higher wages at their new jobs, and the 
industrial economy brought them exploitation, continued poverty, and the 
risk of injury and death. No student of American history can forget the 
images of filthy children emerging from mills and mines, the stories of 
terrible fires and explosions, or the grim legacy of the slums that grew 
up in factory towns.
    Although child labor, sweatshops, and workplace disasters are 
largely horrors of the past, efforts to eliminate them began to succeed 
only after workers organized and spoke with a united, independent voice. 
The American labor movement helped the first generation of industrial 
employees to express their aspirations and insecurities, empowering them 
with the necessary tools to define the terms and conditions of their 
employment and to expand the role of labor in the larger society.
    As we approach the 21st century, our Nation's economy is undergoing 
a transformation as momentous as the change that spurred the exodus from 
farms to factories 100 years ago. And in facing the challenges posed by 
global competition and rapid technological advances, the workers of the 
Information Age need the same effective leadership that allowed their 
forbears to succeed. Each new generation of workers must embrace the 
activism that has characterized labor's rich history, and all Americans 
should recognize the role that labor has played in the continuing 
progress of our democracy.
    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 laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 1996, 
as Labor History Month. I call upon Government officials, educators, the 
media, and all the people of the United States to observe this month 
with ceremonies, activities, and programs that encourage reflection on 
the labor movement's heritage and its many contributions to the creation 
and maintenance of a just America.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of 
May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-six, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twentieth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., May 6, 1996]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on May 
7.

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