SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. today issued a proclamation declaring September 5, 2011, as Labor Day in the State of California.
The text of the proclamation is below:
PROCLAMATION BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
When government and business recognize the intrinsic right of workers to organize and bargain collectively, it is possible to create an orderly system of industrial relations, avoiding the chaos and bloodshed that often marked labor disputes in the past. While unions and craft organizations began to hold Labor Day picnics in the 1870s, it was not until 1894 that this observance became an official holiday for all Americans. In that year President Grover Cleveland established the national Labor Day as part of his efforts to heal the nation’s wounds after the tragic events of the Pullman Strike.
This year, as we enjoy Labor Day traditions, ranging from beach outings and barbecues to an annual change in the rules of high fashion, we should reflect on how much progress we have achieved as a nation in the field of labor relations.
I urge all Californians to take this opportunity to remember not only the vital contribution that organized workers and labor unions have made to our country, but also the rare privilege of living within a democratic system where ordinary people hold and exercise the ultimate political power.
NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim September 5, 2011, as “Labor Day.”
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 5th day of September 2011.
___________________________________
EDMUND G. BROWN JR.
Governor of California
ATTEST:
__________________________________
DEBRA BOWEN
Secretary of State