Friday, January 15, 2010

Too many holidays?

Benny here.  We have another holiday coming on Monday, in celebration of Martin Luther King's Birthday.

Federal News Radio has caused a little stir by asking about the number of federal holidays. They are asking whether it would be prudent for federal employees to give back a couple of holidays, to help balance the books.

One of their listeners suggested eliminating George Washington's Birthday or Columbus Day.

What do you think? Do we have enough holidays? Not enough? Just right? Which ones, if any, should we give back? And why don't we have a holiday for my birthday?  Leave a comment here. And you can also weigh in with the poll in the upper right-hand corner of this blog, found here.

28 comments:

Merk said...

In many other countries they have more holidays. My ex used to complain about our having President's Day, Veteran's day, etc. off but when we looked at the calendar his company had the same number of holidays as they had Christmas Eve, Good Friday and the day after Thanksgiving off. I'd be in favor of having the holidays spaced out more - we several from December through February then a "dry spell" until Memorial Day. More days off in the summer and fewer in the winter sounds good :)

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't mind 'changing' Columbus Day to a 'floating' holiday like your birthday.

Anonymous said...

I think we are getting a litte crazy about holidays. Often we get the day off and don't recognize why? For example, Columbus day...why should we get this holiday off if we don't do anything to recognize what he did? To me, if we take Columbus day off we should be required to attend a function that supports the holiday. We take Christmas and actually spend it with our families enjoying Chirstmas activities. We take New Years Day off to recover from welcoming in the new year. What do we do for Columbus Day, President's Day, Martin Luther King, ect? We use that day to go shopping, fishing, or some other form of recreation. If we don't do something to celebrate the day, we should be required to work it.

Anonymous said...

I, like most people, would like to see the postal service become a solvent company but not at the hands of the employees again. The postmasters have already lost their convention leave at the name of saving a buck. We all need to make concessions and tighten our budgets, but it seems to always be the "working people" that end up on the short end of every stick.

Anonymous said...

I would exchange Columbus day to having the day after Thanksgiving off!! Who want to work when your still stuffed from the day before!

Anonymous said...

Get rid of all of them except Christmas and New Years.

Anonymous said...

I think a better question to ask would be "How many federal workers end up working the holiday anyway?"

signed, "shafted again at the USPS"

Anonymous said...

I do think we could get rid of some of the holidays. Yes they are nice but the day after the holidays like the one coming up are a drag because you do double work because nobody else has the day off. Maybe we could have a choice like the floating day off.

Anonymous said...

When we have so little say in HOW our money is spent, I do not think we should give up our holidays to pay for the irresponsible spending our congressmen.

Anonymous said...

Holidays were given for a reason.
I appreciate them

Anonymous said...

I whish we could get President Fords day off like the rest of the government. I really look forward to ALL the holidays. KEEP THEM ALL

Anonymous said...

I agree with the previous comment that we should participate in an event or attend a function related to the holiday. I don't think we should decrease the number of holidays. Sometimes it is the only time to schedule appointments.

Anonymous said...

If YOU were getting these Holidays off - I bet YOU would keep your mouth shut

Anonymous said...

I think we should keep all the holidays we have. If the USPS wants to save some money why don't they offer us 6 furlough days a year. I for one wouldn't mind taking an unpaid day off.

Anonymous said...

Get rid of ALL holidays. We (RCAs) don't get paid for them anyway.

Anonymous said...

PTF do not get paid either.

Robert Todd Wilcke said...

The NALC negotiates a National Agreement on behalf of all letter carriers that guarantees their wages, benefits, working conditions, and rights on the job. The Agreement contains job security provisions, a grievance procedure to ensure fair treatment, holiday and leave benefits, and many other worker protections. Don't tell me what to do on my holiday either.

Anonymous said...

We are forced to work so much overtime anymore, plus AL is not approved because it causes overtime for replacement workers. We are forced to use 40 hours of AL to get off one day. For these reasons we need all of these Federal holidays observed by the Post Office.

Joan said...

Holidays are a rest period meant to have us reflect on what the day means. As we are a very diverse country with multiple cultures each holiday means something different to everyone. Wheather they celebrate the day in prayer, fishing or drinking themselves stupid is a choice they make. However we should keep them. They are of mental health value.

Anonymous said...

For those of us that have a hard time getting any time off, these holidays are a Godsend. We're having a hard enough time working six days a week when we're already wiped out from Christmas. Don't mess with our holidays. We've earned them.

Anonymous said...

Most states and local governments observe the same holidays, as do many school districts. Most, if not all, banks are closed, too. So there is no reason why we shouldn't also have those holidays. Sure retail stores, etc. are open but then some businesses are open 365 days a year. And to claim people don't celebrate the non-widely observed holidays is a generalization as many people do attend some function. So do we only allow those that claim to "celebrate" it appropriately the day off? How about only veterans having Veteran's Day off? How about only Christians having Christmas off and people of Mexican descent having Cinco De Mayo? These holidays were selected for a reason so leave them be. I appreciate every one of them if for no other reason than to sleep in late and visit my grandkids!

Anonymous said...

I enjoy and appreciate all of the holidays that we have off. If you think about it, almost all companies allow their employees a few extra days off around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Postal workers, on the other hand, usually are doing overtime around these holidays. I think it balances itself out. Also, the city and state government employees get to enjoy these holidays as well.

Anonymous said...

Deliver the mail on MLK, Presidents, columbus and veterans days. Either give floating holidays to compensate or allow the subs to work, and give the public their mail.

hailstone said...

I've already given back Presidents Day and Columbus Day. Then that's the price for ten hour work days in balancing everything. Growing up on a farm and having farmed myself for twenty years one would ask "what's a holiday". Livestock have to be feed 365 days a year come rain, snow, sleet or holidays.

Anonymous said...

Its not up to us what holidays we get. If Congress thinks its important enough to make a federal Holiday then we should get it as federal employees. I do believe that the criteria for creating a federal holiday should be very strict but don't blame the workers for what government "forces" on us as a federal holiday.

Anonymous said...

Someone left a commeent "PTFs don't get paid for holidays". That is just not true. They don't get holiday leave but holiday pay is built into ther hourly rate. On an hourly basis they are paid their annual salary/2000. Regulars are paid their annual salary/2080.

Anonymous said...

10 Holidays a year... That's 80hrs. for those of us who get to take them with pay & don't have to work them!! That's (2) weeks of regular pay scale!! IF we had a choice, I would rather they include the (80)hrs. w/my 160/AL for a total of 240hrs. AND let us take the time whenever we choose. There are some,maybe half of the holidays that we presently get that I would gladly work IF I could take that 8hrs at a time more suitable to my personal schedule.

Anonymous said...

Okay! I don"t disagree or agree with all the comments, but I do like my holidays. For me I can regroup and get ready for the next stretch period of no holidays.Just leave my holidays alone.Thank You