Juneteenth will now be an observed holiday for most City and Borough of Juneau employees, starting next week.
Juneteenth is already a national holiday and, for the first time this year, an Alaska state holiday. It commemorates the day when enslaved people in Galveston learned from a Union soldier that they were free — more than two months after the end of the Civil War. The holiday is recognized on June 19.
The change for most city staff comes after negotiations with a union representing some city employees resulted in the addition of the holiday and wage increases over the next few years.
The city then passed a resolution granting the holiday and wage increases to non-union represented city employees in order to maintain equity across departments and to be a more competitive employer. Employees represented by two other unions won’t see the additional holiday or wage increase this year. Juneau’s city manager says the city is still in negotiations with those unions.
The union that negotiated the change is the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (MEBA).
Most city employees will also see a 3% wage increase this year and next, and a 5% increase in fiscal year 2028. They will also get two lump sum payments of $2,750 and $2,000 the next two years respectively.
The addition of the Juneteenth holiday is effective immediately, and will be observed next Thursday.
