Miami-Dade County employees getting a new paid holiday in 2021: Juneteenth

Miami-Dade County employees are about to have a new paid holiday on their calendars: Juneteenth, the annual celebration of the emancipation of enslaved Americans during the U.S. Civil War.

On Tuesday, Miami-Dade commissioners approved a resolution clearing the way for all county employees to have the day off for Juneteenth this year. While Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19, that day falls on a Saturday in 2021 so the holiday will be Monday, June 21, in Miami-Dade.

Commissioners approved similar legislation in October by then-Commissioner Barbara Jordan, but it only created a Juneteenth holiday for county employees who aren’t members of labor unions.

The latest resolution, by Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, Jordan’s successor in District 1, authorizes county labor negotiators to offer Juneteenth as an extra holiday to all Miami-Dade unions rather than wait for both sides to include the holiday in the next round of contract negotiations.

Unions will “of course” accept the added day off, said Se’Adoreia Brown, president of the AFSCME Local 199 union, which represents workers in multiple Miami-Dade departments.

Juneteenth would be the 12th paid holiday in a county government with more than 28,000 employees. County buildings close on those days and services are reduced. Existing holidays include Columbus Day and the day after Thanksgiving. Employees also have birthdays off, plus a floating holiday to be used throughout the year.

Local Miami-Dade governments, including North Miami Beach and South Miami, have also moved in recent weeks to recognize Juneteenth as a holiday.

The Juneteenth celebration traces back to the days after the Civil War when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier, declaring it illegal for people to be enslaved in Confederate states.

Black Americans enslaved in Galveston had not been told of the president’s order until the soldiers arrived, prompting a celebration.

“June 19th is the date that the last American found out that slavery was over,” Gilbert said Wednesday. “It’s important that, as a county, we acknowledge that and give our employees the day off, with pay.”

This story was originally published May 5, 2021 at 3:22 PM.