Greenburgh Insider: Reasons why town government will be open this year on Juneteenth.

 

Town government will remain open on Monday, Juneteenth. An explanation follows. The town celebrated Juneteenth with a flag raising ceremony on Friday, motorcade and event at Richard Presser Park. 

Town government will remain open on Monday, Juneteenth. An explanation follows. The town celebrated Juneteenth with a flag raising ceremony on Friday, motorcade and event at Richard Presser Park.  Photos below of some of the highlights of our Juneteenth ceremony which gets better each year!

 

The Town of Greenburgh acknowledges that Juneteenth is an important holiday that should be celebrated and honored by all.  The current contracts negotiated with the CSEA, Teamsters and Police Union (PBA) list specifically named holidays.  Juneteenth or “federal holidays” are not on any of the lists.  The Town Board, after consultation with our Town Attorneys and a thorough review of our current union contracts, has unanimously decided to take the following actions to properly address Juneteenth moving forward.
 
 The CSEA and Teamsters union contracts expire at the end of this year.  Therefore, re-negotiations will begin soon.  We expect the unions will work with the Town Board to add Juneteenth as an officially observed holiday for our CSEA and Teamsters employees starting next year.  The PBA agreement expires the end of 2023.  However, the Town Board is willing to discuss an interim Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the PBA regarding Juneteenth for next year, in advance of renegotiations on their new contract for 2024.
 
 The Town is constrained by the terms of our currently negotiated agreements.  Therefore, employees in all departments are expected to work this coming Monday, June 20, as per the language of the current contracts.  However, we understand that employees have the right to take off and celebrate using their own vacation time or the personal time available in the existing contracts.  Email your department head today if you plan to take off Monday.
 
 Juneteenth is a day of celebration.   The town sponsored a Juneteenth celebration on Friday and a flag raising ceremony at Town Hall. There was a motorcade, celebration with food music and fun at Richard Presser Park. 

Juneteenth celebrations in Greenburgh will get better and better each year.

 Paul Feiner