Louisville Water Co. Gives Employees Day Off For New Holiday

The Louisville Water Company is giving their employees this Friday off to celebrate Juneteenth.

“We want our employees to know that this day is important to the company and to reflect upon what it signifies in our history — the ending of slavery in this country," Spencer Bruce, Louisville Water's president, told the Associated Press.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned that they were free more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

The Louisville Water Company decided to give its workers the holiday off after "civil unrest" in the city led to discussions about diversity, inclusion, and equity.

Some cities and Black American have been celebrating Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, since the late 1800s, but now the holiday is gaining widespread attention.

While Juneteenth is not yet a federal holiday, a growing number of companies are giving their workers the day off or paying them time and a half, NPR reported. Some of the largest companies now recognizing the holiday include Allstate, Best Buy, and Target.

The city of Louisville is hosting a wide variety of events to celebrate Juneteenth this weekend. A complete schedule can be found on the city's Jubilee Celebration website.