By Gloria DULAN-Wilson
I recently circulated a petition in reference to Juneteenth being reinstated as Holiday in Philadelphia. Then I received this press release trying to head off the City Council Confrontation set for Thursday, January 28. So I say to the petitioners, sign the petition anyway. Make your voice official.
Kenney to declare Juneteenth as official city holiday again this year
- Michael D'Onofrio Tribune Staff Writer
Juneteenth will be an official city holiday this year after all.
Mayor Jim Kenney will sign an executive order this week to declare Juneteenth an official city holiday for 2021, said Kenney administration spokeswoman Deana Gamble in an email.
"The mayor intends to recognize Juneteenth as an official holiday," Gamble said.
Last year, as protests and civil unrest were ongoing in the city and U.S. over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Kenney used a one-time executive action to designate the June 19 celebration, commemorating the abolition of slavery in the U.S., a city holiday for the first time.
Kenney's unilateral order left out Juneteenth as an official city holiday for this year, which The Philadelphia Tribune reported on last week.
The Kenney administration continues to negotiate with the city’s four major labor unions to include Juneteenth among other observed holidays in their collective bargaining agreements to cement Juneteenth as a permanent city holiday, Gamble said.
"We want Juneteenth to be listed in all four CBAs [collective bargaining agreements]," she said.
Gamble maintained mayor had always intended to use an executive order if the administration didn't make progress on those negotiations. The mayor's executive order would again establish Juneteenth an official city holiday only for this year.
The collective bargaining agreements for the city’s major unions sunset on June 30 — after Juneteenth.
The Kenney administration also was attempting to negotiation with the unions to swap out a current city holiday, like Columbus Day, for Juneteenth due to budgetary concerns. The city suffered a nearly $750 million budget hole last year due to the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The School District of Philadelphia will observe Juneteenth this year on June 18, a Friday, by closing schools and administrative offices. The last day of the school year for students is June 11.
In 2019 Gov. Tom Wolf designated June 19 as Juneteenth National Freedom Day, creating a state holiday for employees under the governor’s jurisdiction.
Juneteenth is not a federal holiday but according to the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, 45 states and the District of Columbia mark the day as a holiday or observance. According to CBS News, several companies moved to mark Juneteenth as a paid holiday last year in the wake of the Floyd protests.
215-893-5782, mdonofrio@
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