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LA City Council Will Consider Expanding Employees Included In Juneteenth Holiday
Jamaea Martin and Shane Smith said they'd always felt honored to celebrate Juneteenth because it's such an important holiday for the Black community, and they are happy that other communities are finally recognizing Juneteenth and the oppression Black people face.
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Chava Sanchez
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LAist
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Topline:
The Los Angeles City Council will today consider making Juneteenth — the day that marks the end of slavery — an official city holiday for non-represented city employees and employees represented by other labor organizations.
More info: The holiday honors the events of June 19, 1865, which marks the day that Union troops in Texas informed enslaved people that the Civil War had ended and that Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 would be enforced. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed legislation that made Juneteenth a federal holiday.
The backstory: Last year, the council made Juneteenth a paid holiday for city employees, but that only applied for employees represented by the Coalition of City Unions.
Corrected June 12, 2023 at 11:28 AM PDT
This story was updated to clarify what took place on the original June 19th date.
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