LI county workers demand paid Juneteenth holiday: Should not be controversial

Hundreds of Long Island county workers Friday were fuming that they didn’t get Juneteenth off as a paid holiday while much of the rest of the state did.Hoards flooded the outside of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s office last week alongside Democratic members of the state legislature to demand the local government employer join the 60% of other counties in New York that recognize Juneteenth and give its workers the day off.Juneteenth is both a federal and state holiday, guaranteeing federal and state workers the paid day off, with municipal and private businesses following suit as they see fit.Long Island’s Suffolk County gave its workers the paid day off, as did New York City.“It’s disappointing that we’re in 2026 and we’re still standing here fighting for the recognition of Juneteenth,” said Kris Kalender, president of Nassau County’s Civil Service Employees Association, of the holiday, which honors June 19, 1865 — the official end of slavery in the US.“But here we are today.

We’re still asking and still waiting.”But workers in Nassau and 18 other counties in the state had to show up to work.“Recognition of Juneteenth and what it represents should not be controversial,” Kalender said.Blakeman called out the union’s and Dems’ rally and their framing of the issue as “disingenuous.’’He claimed his reasons for not giving county workers a paid day off for the commemoration was not about culture-war issues but rather finances.He said he would be willing to give the county’s workers the day off — but only if the union trades another holiday in its place.“It has nothing to do with Juneteenth — I have to watch out for the taxpayers’ money,” Blakeman said.“I told [the CSEA], ‘I will give you Juneteenth, you give me another holiday back,’ that’s the fiscally prudent thing to do,” he said.Blakeman — who is also the GOP nominee in this year’s race for governor against Dem incumbent Kathy Hochul — bla...