Peter McGuire Congressional Gold Medal Act

(1) Peter McGuire’s advocacy for the American Labor Movement led to great gains for American workers and their ability to organize and collectively bargain, especially in wages, worker solidarity, and the movement for the 8-hour workday.

(2) Peter McGuire is known as the Father of Labor Day and of May Day for his contributions to American workers.

(3) Mr. McGuire is recognized for building the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America into a powerful force advocating for American workers, and one of the most powerful labor organizations in the world.

(4) Within 2 years, Mr. McGuire’s St. Louis carpenters achieved such impressive success and wage gains that it attracted the attention of carpenters across the United States.

(5) In 1881, Mr. McGuire called for a national meeting of carpenters’ unions in Chicago which resulted in the formation of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, and was elected the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America’s Chief Administrative Officer.

(6) In 1881, Mr. McGuire wrote the convention call for the national conference of labor unions that established the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, which, in 1886, reorganized into the American Federation of Labor.

(7) Mr. McGuire was elected the first Secretary of the American Federation of Labor.

(8) Mr. McGuire advocated admirably for an 8-hour workday, and his action resulted in meaningful gains for the 8-hour workday movement. Mr. McGuire led impactful strikes in 1886 and 1890, which put the 8-hour workday on the minds of the American public. The latter strike resulted in especially impressive gains for workers, and one of the most successful strikes of the 19th century: over 23,000 carpenters in 36 cities gained the 8-hour workday, and 32,000 others gained the nine-hour workday.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design in honor of Peter McGuire in recognition of his contributions to the American Labor Movement.

For purposes of the presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the Secretary) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor.

Following the award of the gold medal in honor of Peter McGuire, the gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History, where it will be available for display as appropriate and available for research.

It is the sense of Congress that the National Museum of American History should make the gold medal awarded pursuant to this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly at appropriate locations associated with the American Labor Movement or the Gilded Age.

Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.

For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.

There is authorized to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under this Act.

Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.