Workers Memorial Day, 2014

Vol. 79

Wednesday,

No. 83

April 30, 2014

Part III

The President

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Proclamation 9107--Workers Memorial Day, 2014

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 9107 of April 25, 2014

Workers Memorial Day, 2014

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

America is built on the promise of opportunity. We
believe that everyone should have a chance to succeed,
that what matters is the strength of our work ethic,
the scope of our dreams, and our willingness to take
responsibility for ourselves and each other. Yet each
year, workplace illness and injury threaten that
promise for millions of Americans, and even more
tragically, thousands die on the job. This is
unacceptable. On Workers Memorial Day, we honor those
we have lost, and in their memory, affirm everyone's
right to a safe workplace.

With grit and determination, the American labor force
has propelled our Nation through times of hardship and
war, and it laid the foundation for tremendous economic
growth. Workers risked life and limb to turn the gears
of the Industrial Revolution, raise our first
skyscrapers, and lay railroad track that connected our
country from coast to coast. The injured, as well as
families of the dead, received little or no
compensation.

It was only after decades of organizing, unionizing,
and public pressure that workers won many of the rights
we take for granted today. Finally, with the
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the Federal
Government required employers to provide basic safety
equipment. Just 1 year prior, the Federal Coal Mine
Health and Safety Act of 1969 established comprehensive
safety and health standards for coal mines, increased
Federal enforcement powers, and provided compensation
to miners with black lung.

My Administration remains dedicated to building on this
progress. We are improving standards to protect workers
from black lung and reduce their exposure to dangerous
substances. We are helping employers provide safe
workplaces and holding those who risk workers' lives
and health accountable. And we are empowering workers
with information so they can stay safe on the job.

We must never accept that injury, illness, or death is
the cost of doing business. Workers are the backbone of
our economy, and no one's prosperity should come at the
expense of their safety. Today, let us celebrate our
workers by upholding their basic right to clock out and
return home at the end of each shift.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, 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, 2014, as
Workers Memorial Day. I call upon all Americans to
participate in ceremonies and activities in memory of
those killed or injured due to unsafe working
conditions.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord two
thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
eighth.