11 Total. And really? You want to add sick time and vacation time which is accrued based on hours worked? Stop mixing your frustrations with civil servants and those in Congress that dont pay for health care and keep it forever. Most civil employees work very hard for what they have achieved.

When the house/senate are in session is set by an official calendar... It has nothing to do with either "side"...

It gives them time to go back to their home districts/states to hold town halls, meet with their constituents, etc. Same as it ever was...

But you knew that, right?

Ah, another excuse to celebrate how bad some people had things in the distant past. Why do some people promote themselves as victims when they live in the most opportunistic society ever?

Its all about political power. If we can keep victimhood alive then we can make people hate each other. Angry people are easy to control.

Too many holidays?
Perhaps you prefer exchanging Juneteenth for one of the other holidays.
Which one should we nix?

There are only about 52 weeks a year!

I agree with golfing eagles. Juneteenth does not deserve this recognition.

Since losing Casmir Pulaski Day when moving here I welcome the Juneteenth addition.

Casimir Pulaski Day in the United States

OK. Fine. Let’s dump Christmas. Not all Americans have an invisible friend they worship on December 25.

But, it’s obvious you just don’t get it. Juneteenth is not a day to celebrate black people—it’s a day to celebrate an end to the abomination of slavery. Slavery was a national embarrassment. Treating some people as if they were less than human and that some lives are more important than others is disgusting, although it is clear that many here still have that mindset.

Ending slavery is something meaningful to ALL Americans and should be celebrated.

Evanston, Ilinois, unless they have changed it back already. Google? Please.

The 500,00+ deaths during the Civil War got it. Pro or con, they got it.

So we have another federal holiday that ALL AMERICANS can't identify with. Do we really need it? Or is it just paying lip service to a small minority? Most Americans either never heard of Juneteenth (not even a real word) or if they did, weren't really interested in it.
So I consider it another notch in the slow decline of the U.S.A.

I do believe in July 4th......a day to celebrate ALL AMERICANS.

Yes Google. Like it or not it is the most complete search engine today. In fact, it helped me find the information on Evanston, Illinois.

They have a great crystal ball in Evanston, Illinois. Google found articles from March and May announcing that the activities for July 4 had been cancelled. If these were canceled due to Juneteenth then Evanston knew three months before anyone else that there would be a new holiday!

Or, just maybe, Evanston canceled their July 4 activities with no thought of Juneteenth. Even the Fox News article acknowledges that the July 4 decision was made earlier in the year and based on Covid concerns.

So again, which cities canceled July 4 events in order to celebrate Juneteenth instead?

Just another "notch" for the special interest groups.
Doesn't mean much, if at all, to most!

No, you are mistaken. The Friday after Thanksgiving is NOT often given to Federal Employees as a day off. Sometimes it is (that is at the discretion of the commander in chief); but most often it is considered a "liberal leave" day (which means that most everyone can take that day off using their annual leave as long as there is at least one person in the office that covers phone calls). I retired this past December and had a compressed work schedule that usually always fell on that particular Friday. When it didn't I took annual leave. I can only remember a few times that we got that Friday off by executive order.

Thank you for speaking for me and clearing that up. I wasn't sure if I could identify with it or not.

Guess you’re still working? Everyday holiday for me.:duck:

I agree work is a 4 letter word

The holidays that you mention-are not federal holidays even though many if not most have those days off.

Why? when can mail in you’re vote 3 months in advance and two days after:icon_wink:

Really? I worked for 4 federal agencies in my career and I knew very few of these people (if any). In fact I knew several employees who worked their asses off, and either died at their desk or on the weekend when they weren't on the federal clock. I actually take a offense at many of these posts tone. I earned every dollar, every benefit while I was a federal employee.

Very low percentage, was she in management? Contracting totally different, they get higher wages so federal government don’t have pay benefits, the contractor responsible. I had contractor working with me, knew very little about the job and got paid more than me, but I was responsible for the work, time, and his training. By the time I actually got him trained and somewhat productive the contract ended. So, yes there low percentage that can’t unionize or join. Union’s does not like contracting it limited their base.

No, not management. Her official title was intake clerk.

According to this source, only 26% of federal workers are union.

Top Industries for Union Jobs in America

Oh, and don't forget German-Americans

That is not true.

I appreciate your service. And please don't take the comments here personally. Most complaining about the government has never worked in those jobs. Most are spouting party rhetoric - the old adage that government is the problem, not the solution.

40 years here, I seen it all. Glad to here you was honorable federal employee.:bigbow:

The 30/70 precent rule. GS employees can be on flex time. They can come an go when ever they want most days as long as the clock 8 hours on the honor system. WG employees are on clock down to minute. Which means, no coming late, breaks controlled to minute, no long lunch. No leaving end day till the exact time off clock.

Yes, and it takes army of lawyers to pay less than there secretary :duck.

They cancelled the July 4 celebration because of COVID-19 concerns; it is typically expected to get a whole lot of dense volume of people all packed together with no room for social distancing even among people who want it.

Pride and Juneteenth attract much lower volume of people to each, with much more room for social distancing for anyone who wants it.

It's a practical thing, not a political thing. Well except for people who are looking for an excuse to rage against certain political ideology and use this as an excuse.

Depends if you in the 30% or the 70%. You don’t want to be in the 30% if you’re a slacker.

I am a lifelong Texan. We always had a BBQ on June 19th because all the Black Families did. We all got along and everybody enjoyed this day. It was very similar to Cinco De Mayo where we all had Mexican Food and had parties with Sombreros.

But I can tell you most Black Families did NOT know the significance of June 19th just like the Mexican Families could not tell you what happened on May 5th (Can you) It is NOT Mexican Independence Day.

And one more hugely IRONIC twist. I am going to say this as delicate as possible. No I will let you guess. Why do you think they say "JUNETEENTH" in the first place? We all joked about this along with our Black Co-Workers, etc. but now to say it out loud will bring the Politically Correct Police and anger the agenda driven folks.

It is the timing of the designation. Why now? We know why?

Really? Public employees are paid more on average than private workers. They also have better benefits both during work and afterwards during retirement. Government doesn't really worry about a budget so public jobs are typically overpaid and over-staffed. The risk of getting fired in the public sector is miniscule compared to the private sector.

Public unions (which should be outlawed, IMO) have taken advantage of no real entity with actual skin in the game on the other side of the negotiating table. All one has to do is look at the abhorrent behavior of the majority of the teacher's unions during the pandemic. They kept their teachers from working while never missing a pay check. Then, much of the stimulus money went to pay bonuses.

LOL practical thing.

I always understood Juneteenth represented the words June 19th. Which is the day the Union Army came to Texas to the last holdout of slavery after the Civil war and emancipated the blacks still being held as slaves there.

You can assume any meaning you want to - that is called freedom, but your assumptions don't make for facts.

not true. you would have to show proof via doctor's certificate of need to be off that long. while some people take their sick hours as soon as they accumulate, most don't. I have never seen these Federal employees that "don't show up for work". most keep their sick hours high in case they are needed. It may have changed, but when I worked for the Federal govt. I had to use sick leave for my maternity leave and that wiped out most of my hours. also, if you don't use them, when you retire you do get credit for the amount you have, so most savvy people keep as much as they can. Yes, your sick leave can be used for family care, i.e. the need to care for sick child, dying parent, a number of things but doesn't change the fact you are using the hours you accrued and should something happen to you in the future you may not have enough hours. I saw that a lot. One of my co-workers sons sustained brain injury and she blew threw her hours fast. we were allowed to donate sick hours to people in her position and we did. Many people chose to work in the government for the benefits. at one time, I could have made $35,000 more in the private sector and was called a moron for working for the govt. then the economy tanked, and I was called a parasite contributing to the debt.

You are right, but wasting your time here. People here hear ONE story about an employee that supporters their position that government employees are lazy and get away with whatever, and that confirms their views. So, it becomes a mantra to be repeated. The same as the claim that people are buying lobster with food stamps - sure one or even a few did, the other 38 million people didn't, but that doesn't stop the hair fire about all the people doing it. It's a thing - find ONE case of something bad, and rant about how the entire thing is bad.

Liberals are guilty of this too - look at Jan 6th - not all Republicans supported that, but liberals tend to blame them all.

It's like high school pep rallies, screaming and ranting on the other school. I thought by the time people retired they could grow up.

Have you ever worked for the Govt or are you just regurgitating what you heard on the television?

I have worked for the Govt and in the same field in private industry. I had better pay and comparable benefits *outside* the Govt. Some parts of the Govt still have retirements plans but they are rarely offered in private industry any more - yes, something beats nothing any day.

The holiday is great but they should have canceled another day off to keep holidays from adding up. So many workers do NOT get these days off and have to pay for the federal, state workers who don't work and still get paid.

Paid holidays
 

I was a Government employee for many years and NEVER had 48 paid holidays. As far as I can remember we celebrated New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. When we were stationed in DC, Inauguration Day was also a holiday because every street in DC was closed for security. That’s 11. A far cry from 48. Just wanted to set the record straight.

Okay, let's see if I got this right:

There are about 153 million taxpayers in the US.

The total Federal Government payroll is about $135 billion dollars annually.

That means $135,000,000,000 / 153,000,000 is about $888 (on average) per tax payer.

I am suffering over this extreme taxation, $888 of an average of $25,000, of my hard-earned income to pay for those Federal employees. So, about $3/day off is billed to the average taxpayer.

I would appreciate if anyone can point out my error here? Doesn't seem like something to get excited about considering all the actual waste in the Federal Government.

Where secretary?