The New People faction has proposed extending the weekend from May 1 to May 9 for the May holidays. The first vice-chairman of the group, Vladislav Davankov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma, who also initiated the initiative, said that the relevant bill was submitted to the State Duma by Alexei Nechaev, Sangadzhi Tarbaev, Anna Skroznikova, Anton Tkachev and Georgy Arapov.
“Stop deceiving people. Now it’s a weekend from April 29 to May 1. Then work for four days and return to the country. Ask entrepreneurs what productivity is these days. No one cares about business! It starts with ordinary employees and ends with officials,” said Davankov .
The document contains amendments to the article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation on non-working holidays.
At the same time, the deputies proposed to extend the May holiday by shortening the New Year holiday period. Thus, the initiative will not require an overall increase or decrease in non-working holidays and will not require additional budgetary expenditures.
“If we pass this bill immediately, then there will be no weekend break this year – from April 29 to May 9. And next year and beyond January holidays will run from 1 January to 3 January plus Christmas Day (7 January).and May – from May 1 to May 9 without interruption, ”explained Davankov.
Lawmakers believe that during the January holidays, “many citizens cannot spend time in nature and find other ways of leisure because of the cold weather,” so they do not need long weekends in winter. The party cited opinion polls that showed two-thirds of Russians did not leave their homes during the January weekend.
“From home entertainment in winter – Olivier and TV. The street is icy. The result is that the emergency rooms are not crowded. “People have burns, bruises and fractures on ice due to pyrotechnics,” he said.
According to him, with the warming of May weather, people will be able to “spend more time in nature and outside the home”, which will contribute to the growth of domestic tourism and the development of small businesses.
“It is better to go for an extra weekend barbecue in the spring forest than to sit at home with salads in the winter,” Davankov concluded.
Currently, regional authorities can independently set additional days off for the May holidays. Thus, in 2022, the May holidays in Adygea were extended and the holidays were adjusted from 1 to 5 May and from 7 to 10 May.
“All the same”
State Duma deputy Yaroslav Nilov was skeptical of the idea of ”New People”. In conversation with the broadcast Lenta.ru He said the long weekend in May and the short New Year’s discussions had been going on for over a year.
“The New People did not propose anything new, this is not the first time such ideas have been voiced, the discussion continues,” said Nilov. According to him, the norms contained in the Labor Code maintain the balance of interests of the worker, employer and government.
Nilov believes the prospects for the new bill are “not very good”, as such initiatives have never been supported, despite the controversy surrounding the issue.
“A universal option was proposed by the former head of the LDPR party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky: mandatory holidays from January 1 to 3, and from 4 to 8 – volunteering. Then one can decide for himself exactly when to take these extra days, ”said Nilov and explained that such an idea is also not supported in the State Duma.
Andrey Isaev, vice-president of the United Russia fraction, in an interview with TASS declarationThe proposal to extend the May holidays by shortening the New Year holidays should first be considered in the commission for the regulation of social and labor relations.
“The current holiday schedule has been approved for a reason, it is the result of an agreement between unions, employers and the government,” said Isaev, emphasizing that the number of holidays should be discussed as part of such tripartite negotiations.
He also noted that the discussion of similar initiatives has been going on for “quite a long time”.
“The New People” are a new faction in the State Duma and they don’t seem to know that everyone is in favor of their extension before the winter and spring holidays,” said the parliamentarian.
Davankov also suggested extending the May holidays until 2022. He then explained his venture with “problems with seeds”. “Spring is already here and the planting season is coming soon,” said Davankov, calling for longer holidays to “get our food security in order.” Labor Minister Anton Kotyakov later stated that his office does not by law work on such initiatives.