Labor Day, 2014

Proclamation 9161 of August 29, 2014

Labor Day, 2014

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

On Labor Day, we honor the legacy of our working women
and men who have played a defining role in the American
story and all those who carry forward our Nation's
proud tradition of hard work, responsibility, and
sacrifice. From assembly lines to classrooms, across
highways and steel mills, American workers strengthen
the foundation of our country and demonstrate that our
economy grows best from the middle out.

For generations, working Americans have fought to build
a better life for their families and a better future
for their country. United in the cause of dignity and
justice in the workplace, they organized for the
workplace protections that have helped build the
largest and most prosperous economy in the world,
including the 40-hour workweek, overtime pay, and safe
working conditions. Each hard-won victory, from laws
establishing collective bargaining to those
guaranteeing a minimum wage, has helped raise standards
of living for people across our Nation and provided
them with opportunities to climb the ladder of success.

In the same spirit of strength and resilience,
Americans today have battled back from a financial
crisis, a weakening economic foundation, and the worst
recession of our lifetimes. We have brought
manufacturing jobs back to America, invested in skills
and education, and begun to lay the groundwork for
stronger, more durable economic growth.

But we still have more work left to do to reverse the
forces that have conspired against working Americans
for decades. As we seek to strengthen our economy and
our middle class, we must secure a better bargain for
all--one where everyone who works hard in America has a
chance to get ahead. I am committed to boosting
economic mobility by empowering our workers and making
sure an honest day's work is rewarded with an honest
day's pay. My Administration is fighting for a fair
minimum wage for every employee because nobody who
works full-time should ever have to raise a family in
poverty. We must also eliminate pay discrimination so
women receive equal pay for equal work, combat unfair
labor practices, and continue to defend the collective
bargaining rights our parents and grandparents fought
so hard for.

As we celebrate Labor Day, we reflect on the efforts of
those who came before us to increase opportunity,
expand the middle class, and build security for our
families, and we rededicate ourselves to moving forward
with this work in our time. We stand united behind our
great American workforce as we lay the path for
economic growth and prosperity.

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 September 1, 2014, as
Labor Day. I call upon all public officials and people
of the United States to observe this day with
appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that
honor the contributions and resilience of working
Americans.

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