The union Servidores Públicos Unidos (SPU) demanded on Wednesday that the government reverse its practice of charging declared days off against public employees’ vacation leave, after Governor Jenniffer González announced that public employees would not work on November 20, November 25, or December 24. SPU called the practice 'forced vacations’ and an 'unilateral and unjust' use of workers’ rest days, arguing that any day off not previously contemplated should be granted without charging any leave.
Union president Jessica Martínez Santos said vacation days are an acquired right meant to let workers plan their rest and family time according to their own needs, not the government’s administrative convenience, and that if the government wants to recognize Thanksgiving and Christmas it should grant these days without any leave charge. According to a La Fortaleza statement issued earlier, Thanksgiving, celebrated this year on November 26, and Christmas, on December 25, are days to 'give thanks and share'.
Employees required to work on November 20 or 25, or December 24, must fulfill their regular workday, and the leave-charged days off do not become holidays for those who must remain on duty. SPU said that if the government does not reverse course, it will take 'the pertinent measures’ to defend workers’ rights, adding that the practice of controlling when employees use vacation leave has been repetitive and must be eradicated.