Business New Zealand says there needs to be a debate about how the country events such as Anzac Day and Waitangi Day are commemorated.
Labour leader Phil Goff says the Holidays Act allows for 11 public holidays a year, but this year there will only be nine.
The Engineering, Printing & Manufacturing Union wants extra public holidays to make up for neither Anzac Day nor Waitangi Day being a separate public holiday this year.
Anzac Day falls on Easter Monday and Waitangi Day is on Sunday, 6 February.
EPMU national secretary Andrew Little, who is also the president of the Labour Party, says it's not just about an extra holiday.
But Business New Zealand chief executive Phil O'Reilly says the 'Mondayising' of public holidays is the wrong way to approach the issue.
