Don’t we all love a paid public holiday? How would you feel if one day was taken away from you? Well, this is exactly The Leadership of the Federation of Unions of South Africa’s (FEDUSA) current concern.
Why are we short one public holiday this year?
Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year. What does that mean? Well, because the holiday falls on a weekend and not a weekday, South Africans will only be able to savour 11 of the 12 paid public holidays we usually receive.
You may be thinking “Hold on! Doesn’t the Monday count as a public holiday, if the holiday falls on a Sunday?”
You’d be right. However, the Monday following Christmas Day is another public holiday all on its own (Day of Goodwill). So that puts us back at square one. How do we get our public holiday back?
FEDUSA has pushed back
History repeats itself as SA found itself in the exact same conundrum back in 2016.
In 2016, Christmas Day also fell on a Sunday. Because of this, COSATU lobbied for an extra public holiday in December and this was granted by former president Jacob Zuma. He declared the 27th of that December a public holiday.
Now FEDUSA has done the same. The Union has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa requesting that SA receives one extra paid public holiday this year to make up for the one lost.
The Union released the following statement on the pending matter with President Ramaphosa:
“FEDUSA remains resolute that working South Africans should not be dealt with a further injustice to their income security, already eroded during COVID-19, and must therefore be able to enjoy their full 12 paid public holidays.”
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