Bill making Juneteenth U.S. holiday becomes law
Greenwich’s XPO Logistics among CT companies to observe day marking end of slavery
The day commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. has become a new national holiday — but a number of Connecticut companies have been celebrating it for years.
President Joe Biden signed into law Thursday afternoon a bill making Juneteenth, or June 19, the 12th federal holiday, after the legislation passed Congress earlier this week. Several of Connecticut’s largest employers have been holding
to observe the holiday, and some are giving employees a day off. At the same time, those initiatives play a key role in helping to communicate companies’ values to employees and the general public.
“For The Hartford, it gives us the opportunity to advance our ongoing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion,” Susan Johnson, insurer The Hartford’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, said in an interview this week. “We’ve honored Juneteenth for more than 15 years, and I’m excited that it’s getting increasing visibility across the U.S.”
The Hartford designated Friday as a company-wide paid holiday, the first time that the No. 142 company on this year’s Fortune 500 list has given employees a day off for Juneteenth.
As The Hartford does for most of its corporate holidays, some of its groups will operate with reduced staff to meet customers’ needs. But this arrangement will be done on a voluntary basis, and employees who work that day will be able to use their holiday hours at another time, according to company officials.
“Following last summer’s racial reckoning, we reflected even more deeply and intentionally about our actions on racial equity,” Johnson said. “One of the ways we did that was by making the decision to recognize the significance of Juneteenth by making it a paid company holiday.”
Among related programming, U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, who represents Connecticut’s Fifth Congressional District, featured in The Hartford's Juneteenth keynote event on June 3.
“It was important for me to participate in the ‘Be The Change’ event because, as the only person of color in the federal delegation (from Connecticut), I want to share my experiences to show the need for diverse voices in leadership,” Hayes said in an email. “The Hartford invited me to participate in the fireside chat as part of their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, as they try to promote this same message within their corporation.”
The Hartford has also continued its longstanding support of Juneevents teenth celebrations organized by the Amistad Center for Art & Culture in Hartford.
Among other initiatives, the company will light on Saturday night its Hartford headquarters sign red, green and black, signifying the colors of the Pan-African flag.
Tools manufacturer Stanley Black & Decker is also making Friday a company-wide day off. The New Britain-headquartered company will simultaneously observe it as “A Day of Hope and Healing” in honor of George Floyd, who was murdered last year by a Minneapolis police officer, and other victims of violence.
In addition, SB&D’s AfricanAncestry Network planned a week of events and education leading up to Juneteenth. The programs started on Monday with flag-raising ceremonies at company locations around the country, including the headquarters of the No. 209ranked company on the Fortune list.
“Personally, I will be setting some time aside on Friday to reflect on my personal commitments to fostering a culture of inclusiveness, where all of our employees feel safe bringing their authentic selves to the workplace — to our collective benefit,” Graham Robinson, the president of SB&D’s industrial group, said at the flagraising in New Britain, according to a written summary of his remarks provided by the company.
Farmington-based Otis Worldwide, the No. 236 company on the Fortune list, also organized programming to recognize Juneteenth. Those efforts have focused on encouraging employees to volunteer through activities such as food drives, clothing donations, park cleanups and other activities. Earlier this month, the company hosted a Juneteenth-focused webinar and discussion open to all employees.
“At Otis, we are committed to creating an inclusive culture that encourages and celebrates diversity,” Otis spokesman Ed Jacovino said in a statement. “We want to build a workforce that mirrors the diversity of our customers and the communities where we live and work and to be a place where every voice feels safe, welcome and heard.”
Norwalk-based Xerox, the No. 415 firm on the Fortune list, is also observing the holiday.
“We believe it will take all of us doing our part to end systemic racism and racial prejudice. To help do our part, we launched an internal campaign called ‘All of Us Together’ to educate our employees and offer tools and resources on how they can make a difference at Xerox and in our communities,” Callie Ferrari, Xerox’s director of communications, said in a statement. “In honor of Juneteenth, we doubled our commitment to matching contributions this month and are encouraging all employees globally to donate to an organization that promotes racial equality and economic opportunity for all.”
Greenwich-based XPO Logistics, the No. 190 company on the Fortune list, said it shared with employees a reading list with works by leading Black authors, including Ralph Ellison’s “Juneteenth.”
“At XPO, we stand for the fundamental values of equality, respect and inclusion,” LaQuenta Jacobs, XPO’s chief diversity officer, said in a statement. “Our company is stronger because of the wealth of diversity our colleagues bring to the business — from their perspectives and ideas to their cultures and experiences.”
Stamford-based Synchrony said that it was holding this week, with its African American diversity network, an event open to all employees to reflect on the history of Juneteenth. The No. 187 company on the Fortune list said that it was also encouraging employees to share their thoughts, access educational resources and support Black-owned organizations. At the same time, the African American network is partnering with the nonprofit Outdoor Afro, which is observing an “outdoor reflection” of Juneteenth.
Executives said that the Juneteenth celebrations support longterm workforce goals. At The Hartford, those objectives include achieving gender parity and doubling the representation of people of color in senior leadership roles by 2030.
“It is really important to our talent attraction and retention efforts because increasingly people are looking for this level of corporate commitment to sustainability,” Johnson said. “Because of the increasing diversity among the talent pools, more and more people are looking to their employers to speak out and take a stand on issues that are of importance to them and the society and neighborhoods where they operate.”
Juneteenth commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans learned of their liberation. Despite the Emancipation Proclamation going into effect in 1863, it could not be implemented in areas still under Confederate control.
“As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later. Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas,” according to the website of the National Museum of African American History & Culture. “The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as ‘Juneteenth’ by the newly freed people in Texas.”