The Grinch Who Stole Thanksgiving?

they can take a vacation or personal day that day, so i don't see the problem.

"Beyond the tradition, she said, it makes little sense to open state government on a day most people will be spending with family or starting their holiday shopping."

i'm sure there will be plenty of paperwork they can do that day, even if they can't call anyone who isn't a state worker.

hey, at least the malls will be less crowded.

Like any work will get done that day anyway? This is the least of our state's problems. Another bandaid.

I think the day after Thanksgiving should be a day off.

Then again, I think there should be an immediate 5% to 10% reduction in state employees -- just like a business in fiscal trouble would HAVE to do to stay viable.

Keep in mind that the expense of having offices open isn't just about salaries being paid-it's electricity, water, etc.
I think everyone should be given that day off, and agree-with Gia--how much work do you think gets done on a day like that anyway? It would be a WASTE of our tax $.

The day would not be a "waste" if supervisors of state employees were to set goals beforehand, and then set themselves to insuring that their underlings meet them. Piled-up paperwork could be tackled, files could be closed out, etc. The idea that because it's the day after a holiday, nothing will get done is simply defeatism (linked to the general malaise we all suspect is endemic among civil employees). Apropos of appletony's remarks, how well a state worker works on "Black Friday" might even be held to his/her account when layoffs come, as they probably should and will.

Lemme get this straight--

Tough guy Corzine can't do anything about property taxes or the high cost of living in NJ, except get state workers back to work the day after Thanksgiving?

I guess those workers don't belong to Ms. Katz's union.......

Corzine is Wipped!!

As a former state employee (not in a let-me-help-you-get-your-license-at-the-DMV-type, either), I take offense to that statement, Cathar. We (my co-workers and I) worked our butts off for years without significant (or some years, ANY) raises, until we finally realized we had to start taking care of ourselves financially. Fantastic reviews year after year without the corresponding salary won't pay the bills.
Don't lump all employees of any industry/sector in to one pile, please. Some of us are professionals who excelled at our jobs and hated to leave, but the choice was an obvious one. My former boss has asked me back numerous times, but I can't afford to say yes.

Hell yeah, give them the day off!

Vacation time keeps shrinking and people take less and less of the time they do get. We get half as many days off as most of the industrialized nations of the world.

I realize we're talking about a holiday and not a vacation day, but it's all time off. And once the government stops giving a certain day off it becomes much easier for an employer to follow suit.

Cut the self-righteous horsepocky, I'm ME. I've spent enough time in my day in state offices, particularly in Trenton, to believe that you're either lying now or were a very shining exception to the rule. On-the-job snoozing, institutionalized rudeness, antiquated proceduralism and a kind of overall crustiness that just seems equally pronounced among young and old employees alike, that's what I usually saw. None of which ever merited "fantastic reviews" from members of the public seeking assistance.

One can easily label public sector employees into one pile, that of people who don't ever seem terribly well qualified for their jobs but gravitated to the public sector because, in their socio-economic set, it was the "done thing." It is certainly not where others look for professionalism and standards of high service.

As for your boss asking you back, I note that, whatever reviews you currently get from your superiors, you haven't in fact gone back. You may even work for a bank for all I know, and they do in fact work the day after Thanksgiving.

I support the workers. Give them the day off with pay. We work too much already.

Figures that in the Peoples Republic of Baristaville almost half the respondents favor giving state employees a holiday the day after Thanksgiving. If they want a day off -- let them take a vacation day like everyone else.

Seems like we ought to give about half the state employees that day and the rest of eternity off. NJ has enought government to run at least three states this size.

More time on the job doesn't mean more productivity. Friday after Thanksgiving is a bust for productivity. This is a cheap tactic to save a scrap of change because many of these employees with not show up and they will use a vacation or sick day. It's a double saver. One post holiday gone and one vacation day used. If he wants to cut taxes he can bring and foster higher paying jobs, balance the budget, cut waste, do proper innovation, and get efficient. And if you want to lower property taxes that's your towns problems.

Oh, laserboy, of course you "support the workers." It's part and parcel of your whole rap lately. But to opine stupdily that no work can be done on such a day as that after Thanksgiving, well, let's just say it's up to your usual nincompoop standards. At CHase Bank, for example, they'll be hard at work that day, just as they will at most retail establishments. Imagine! Things really can be accomplished the day after a holiday, my doughty little nitwit, and to assert that doesn't necessarily mean that one dates back to the times when holidays were celebrated on the actual days thereof (though I do date so far back).

I didn't know they had the day after off. I want to know what other days they get off when the rest of us are working! I read they get 13 holidays - I get 9.

And the whole attitude of - its a wasted day anyway makes me wonder how some people posting here keep their jobs...

I didn't know they had the day after off. I want to know what other days they get off! I read they get 13 holidays - I get 9, and I think I have a sweet deal.

And the whole attitude of - its a wasted day anyway makes me wonder how some people posting here keep their jobs...

I want to respond to Cathar's oh-so-knowledgeable remarks.

I did NOT work in a Trenton office, and I was not the exception to the rule in my office. We worked hard and took pride in our work, our increased productivity, and the awards that we won along the way. Have you ever worked anywhere that didn't have "On-the-job snoozing, institutionalized rudeness, antiquated proceduralism and a kind of overall crustiness that just seems equally pronounced among young and old employees alike..."? Would you like to hear about the local branch of my bank (no, I don't work at a bank) where they have ONE teller behind the glass on Friday afternoons and two 'managers' who sit at their desks doing nothing involving a customer in front of them or on the phone while a line of 8-10 people forms? Or do you want to hear about the three corporate MARKETING directors (yes, that's their title) at three different high-end companies who can't return calls or keep appointments for interviews that will, in the end, give some nice (oh, yes, FREE) publicity to their company? Bad employees are everywhere, Cathar-not just in offices in Trenton.

So, if nothing gets done because it's the day after a holiday shouldn't they get the day off after every holiday? Maybe the day before a holiday too, so they can get prepared.

It boils down to people being lazy. If you have a job it is very likely that there is some sort of work to do, or deadline to meet, so you do your work whatever work day it is, regardless of a holiday. If there was no work to do you wouldn't have a job to have this holiday from.