Austrians unhappy about holiday

It’s hard to imagine a country up in arms over a new public holiday, but that was the near-universal reaction Wednesday to Austria’s plan to give workers an afternoon off on Good Friday.

The Austrian government came up with the plan as a way of conforming to a ruling by the European Court of Justice last month that it was illegal for Good Friday to be a full holiday for members of certain Christian churches only.

In response, the government announced on Tuesday that starting from April 19 this year, everyone would be able to leave work at 2:00 pm.

Adherents of the Protestant churches, who until now had the right to take the whole day off, branded the new rules unfair, while businesses said the new holiday is too costly.

“A holiday which starts at 2:00 pm on a Friday, is ridiculous,” said Bernhard Achitz, from the Austrian Trade Union Confederation.

The working day usually starts early in Austria, and many businesses are in the habit of ending the working week early on a Friday afternoon.