Banks, schools, the stock market all opened their doors Monday, a day that in the past has been reserved for observation of former president Abraham Lincoln's birthday.
But Cayuga County residents who were hoping to visit the Department of Motor Vehicles or file a document with the county clerk were out of luck. County employees still pay tribute to that long, lanky 16th president - by taking the day off.
Employees have long-received the paid holiday, which is “a contractual issue,” said Marilyn Cowen, president of the Cayuga County unit of the CSEA union.
Cayuga County Legislature Chairman George Fearon, R-Springport, conceded that he isn't well-versed in the history of county holidays but guessed the day off was a contractual vestige from when people used to receive paid holidays
for both Lincoln's and George Washington's birthdays.
Both celebrations were observed as holidays until 1971, when former president Richard Nixon declared the third Monday in February as Presidents' Day. The federal list, however, officially calls it Washington's Birthday (sorry Abe).
City of Auburn offices were open for business Monday, but according to past union contracts, employees received both holidays off as late as 1982. Contracts from 1991 show that the city employees were only given Washington's birthday, so the holiday change was made through collective bargaining somewhere in that interim.
Cowen noted that the creation of a holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., a day first celebrated in January 1986, also played a role in which holidays employees received.
After King's birthday observance was implemented, many governmental bodies switched from observing Lincoln and Washington to just one February holiday, she said.
In place of having Lincoln's birthday off, Cowen continued, some entities then gave employees a floating holiday that they could take any time.
Such a policy is currently implemented in Onondaga County, where an employee of the county clerk's office said workers have received a floating day, as per union contract, in place of Honest Abe's birthday for years.
In Seneca County, an estimated 500 employees went to work Monday, just like any other day. Personnel aide Laura Granger, of the county civil service office, called Cayuga County's closure “odd.”
But, she added, though the Seneca County offices were open, the county courthouse was closed because Lincoln was a lawyer.
Fearon, who is on leave from his job as a librarian for the Union Springs Central School District, said he wasn't accustomed to having Lincoln's birthday off.
But he didn't exactly just take it easy Monday.
He attended back-to-back meetings in Ledyard and Springport and said he wouldn't rule out working a paid holiday in the future (he's done it before).
“It's not like I'm getting off,” Fearon said. “I'm only part off.”
Staff writer Anne Gleason
contributed to this report.
Employees have long-received the paid holiday, which is “a contractual issue,” said Marilyn Cowen, president of the Cayuga County unit of the CSEA union.
Cayuga County Legislature Chairman George Fearon, R-Springport, conceded that he isn't well-versed in the history of county holidays but guessed the day off was a contractual vestige from when people used to receive paid holidays
for both Lincoln's and George Washington's birthdays.
Both celebrations were observed as holidays until 1971, when former president Richard Nixon declared the third Monday in February as Presidents' Day. The federal list, however, officially calls it Washington's Birthday (sorry Abe).
City of Auburn offices were open for business Monday, but according to past union contracts, employees received both holidays off as late as 1982. Contracts from 1991 show that the city employees were only given Washington's birthday, so the holiday change was made through collective bargaining somewhere in that interim.
Cowen noted that the creation of a holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., a day first celebrated in January 1986, also played a role in which holidays employees received.
After King's birthday observance was implemented, many governmental bodies switched from observing Lincoln and Washington to just one February holiday, she said.
In place of having Lincoln's birthday off, Cowen continued, some entities then gave employees a floating holiday that they could take any time.
Such a policy is currently implemented in Onondaga County, where an employee of the county clerk's office said workers have received a floating day, as per union contract, in place of Honest Abe's birthday for years.
In Seneca County, an estimated 500 employees went to work Monday, just like any other day. Personnel aide Laura Granger, of the county civil service office, called Cayuga County's closure “odd.”
But, she added, though the Seneca County offices were open, the county courthouse was closed because Lincoln was a lawyer.
Fearon, who is on leave from his job as a librarian for the Union Springs Central School District, said he wasn't accustomed to having Lincoln's birthday off.
But he didn't exactly just take it easy Monday.
He attended back-to-back meetings in Ledyard and Springport and said he wouldn't rule out working a paid holiday in the future (he's done it before).
“It's not like I'm getting off,” Fearon said. “I'm only part off.”
Staff writer Anne Gleason
contributed to this report.
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