This year, both Waitangi Day and Anzac Day fell on a weekend. This meant that workers who would normally work those days did not receive the usual public holiday; instead, they were forced to work at the usual rate. The unfairness of this has led to calls for all our public holidays to be Mondayized. The commemoration would still happen on the day itself, but the public holiday would be shifted to the following Monday.
Unfortunately, this requires a law change. But there's more than one way to do it. The EPMU is pushing to have Mondayized days off for Waitangi Day and Anzac Day included in its benchmark metals and manufacturing agreement. If they are successful, then it is likely to spread throughout the engineering sector, and through the wider workforce. Which, in the long run, could leave Parliament with no option but to legislate to recognise the change.
The call for these holidays to be Mondayized is reasonable - hell, even DPF thinks so. The question now is whether the politicians are going to lead or follow on it.
