The petition that was started on October 20 asking the president to grant an extra holiday to federal workers at Christmas crossed the 50,000 signatures mark today which puts it halfway to its goal. It has to get to 100,000 signatures in order to trigger a response from the White House.
The petition asks for a holiday on Friday, December 26 to create a 4 day weekend for federal workers. It reads:
Federal Employees have dealt with pay freezes and furloughs over the past few years. Giving federal employees an extra holiday on Dec. 26th, 2014 would be a good gesture to improve morale of the federal workforce. Some bases are forcing their employees to take leave or LWOP because of base shut-downs on this day. This is also consistent with past practice. President Obama provided a full-day Monday Dec. 24, 2012 and a half-day off on Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009. President George W. Bush provided a half-day holiday on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2002, as well as several full days off the day before or after Christmas: Tuesday, December 24, 2001, Thursday, December 26, 2003, Tuesday, December 24, 2007, and Thursday, December 26, 2008. We urge President Obama to issue an executive order.
For more on this story, see Do You Want the Day After Christmas Off?.