Schwerin (dpa/mv) - March 8, the new public holiday in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, has cleared a hurdle. The legal committee of the state parliament approved the necessary change to the public holiday law on Wednesday, as the left-wing MP Elke-Annette Schmidt announced. "The March 8 holiday is a clear political signal for more equality and recognition of the achievements of women in our society," she said. March 8 is to be a public holiday in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania from 2023, as SPD MP Mandy Pfeifer added. The state parliament still has to approve it.
In view of the current inflation and economic situation, calls from business and parts of the opposition for the postponement or complete waiver of the additional holiday had previously been made.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is one of the federal states with the fewest public holidays, argues Schmidt. "While other federal states already have one or more public holidays and are doing well economically, people here pretend that everything is going down the drain here." The reality is that people in MV work the longest in a nationwide comparison. At the same time, there is still a noticeable wage gap between East and West.
