TRENTON -- State employees could be eating turkey one day and bagging it for lunch the next under a decision by Gov. Chris Christie's administration to rescind the customary day off after Thanksgiving.
A memo from the governor's office has announced that employees will not be able to take the traditional "Black Friday" off from work even though former Gov. Jon S. Corzine had allowed the unions to trade for that day in a Memorandum of Agreement signed in June 2009.
The unions had exchanged Lincoln's Birthday in February as part of the agreement. State workers receive a total of 13 holidays.
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In his memo announcing the decision, David A. Cohen, director of the Governor's Office of Employee Relations, said that legislation was needed to make the holiday change because under current law, Lincoln's Birthday is still a state holiday until 2012.
Hence, employees could be given the day after Thanksgiving off and then end up with Lincoln's Birthday off, too, Cohen said in the memo.
The memo indicated that Christie, a Republican, is not interested in seeing last-minute legislation, because the Democratic-controlled Legislature has not seen fit to pass a series of proposals aimed at reducing property taxes.
"It is the position of the governor that seeking legislation, in these difficult economic times, would not be a productive use of the Legislature's time," Cohen wrote.Dear lord, that is pathetic. He won't even allow a bill to take care of this without stamping his feet and holding his breath until he turns blue.
And I'm sure the retailing community in NJ is going to be very happy that state workers will not be available to shop on the busiest day of the year in the middle of this fragile recovery.
This is what we're dealing with, folks: a mean, little, vindictive man who insists on making life as difficult as it can be for the people who work under him.
Is this what you really want, America?
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