PEABODY, Mass. – Sept. 11 will be a paid holiday for police officers in one Massachusetts city despite the opposition of some critics.
The Peabody city council approved funds for a new police contract Thursday night by a vote of 7 to 4.
The union says the new holiday is a way to honor those who responded to the 2001 terrorist attacks. But critics have seen it as exploiting a national tragedy.
Council member Arthur Athas, who voted against the contract, says the idea of a paid 9/11 holiday "doesn't sit right."
But member Barry Osborne says no one intended to make light of the attacks.
Officers who work Sept. 11 will get an extra 25 percent pay.
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