WHEREAS:
The 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 marked the end of major hostilities of World War I with the German’s signing of the Armistice; and

WHEREAS:
President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed Armistice Day for November 11, 1919; and

WHEREAS:
An act of Congress, approved on May 13, 1938, made November 11 a legal holiday to be celebrated annually; and

WHEREAS:
This holiday is to be “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as Armistice Day.” (52 Stat. 351, 5 U.S. Code, Sec. 87a); and

WHEREAS:
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill into law on May 26, 1954 declaring that November 11 will honor all veterans on Armistice Day. It was amended by Congress on November 8, 1954 changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day; and

WHEREAS:
In 1971, in accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday of October, and in 1978 it was moved back to its original celebration of November 11, creating a trend among employers to stay open for business on this holiday and not observing it in accordance with its original intentions.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That the delegates to this 39th International Convention of AFSCME assembled in Boston, Massachusetts, June 28, 2010 - July 2, 2010, enact this as a legislative priority for the next Congress in adopting Veterans Day as a day off for ALL veterans in all walks of life across the United States of America; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That a copy of this resolution be sent to all affiliates of AFSCME in urging that this be taken up at the state level if the federal government does not enact this within one year of the inauguration of the 2011-13 Congress.

SUBMITTED BY: 
Mary M. Goulding, President and Delegate 
Richard C. Badger, Executive Director and Delegate 
AFSCME Council 40 
Wisconsin