[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 7, 1996)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Page 20419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-11505]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 89 / Tuesday, May 7, 1996 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 20419]]
Proclamation 6891 May 3, 1996
Labor History Month, 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.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 96-11505
Filed 5-6-96; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
