Centennial Anniversary of the United States Department of Labor

WHEREAS, for the past 100 years, the United States Department of Labor has fostered, promoted and developed the welfare of wage earners, job seekers and retirees of this country; and

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Labor has continually sought to make the American workplace safer, healthier and fairer for everyone; and

WHEREAS, working families in the state of Alabama, across the country and across the world have benefitted from the United States Department of Labor’s efforts to assure work-related benefits and rights, including the right to be paid fairly for every hour labored; and

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Labor has evolved to meet the changing needs of a changing workforce by partnering with employers, community organizations and institutions of higher learning to improve job training, provide lifelong learning opportunities and advance efforts for profitable employment; and

WHEREAS, the impact of the United States Department of Labor has reached outside the confines of the workplace, touching people’s lives at all stages, by allowing parents to take leave and tend to loved ones; training veterans and young people for the careers of a lifetime; and guaranteeing the pensions of retired workers; and

WHEREAS, the inestimable value of the services provided by the United States Department of Labor will remain of paramount importance to the well-being of all Americans and that it will address tomorrow’s conditions, and meet the needs of future workers with the same insight, foresight and passion it has shown for the past century:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama, do hereby proclaim March 4, 2013, as the

Centennial Anniversary of the United States Department of Labor