Starbucks Issues Denial of IWW Demand to Honor MLK Day with Premium

Starbucks' Communique Followed by the Statement of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union

Thank you for contacting Starbucks Coffee Company. We appreciate your writing to us with your concerns about holiday pay for our partners (employees) working on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Starbucks pays time-and-a-half holiday wages on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and Christmas Day. This is a standard practice across the foodservice and restaurant industry. We respectfully recognize other national holidays and embrace a commitment to equality throughout our company that is signified by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. At Starbucks, we are dedicated to serving every customer without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, creed, religion, or physical ability. We run all aspects of our business guided by this principle, including partner (employee) treatment.

Thank you again for contacting us. We appreciate your comments and thank you for being a customer. If you have any further comments please feel free to write to [email protected] or call (800) 23-LATTE to speak with us.

"By denying the Union's reasonable request to treat Martin Luther King Day like other federal holidays, Starbucks has once again proven its commitment to diversity rings hollow. While Starbucks claims to 'embrace diversity', the company will not pay its time and half holiday premium to baristas who work through Dr. King's Day.

A hero to many Starbucks baristas and many Americans, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stood courageously both for racial equality and for the dignity of labor- a stand for which he paid with his life. The IWW Starbucks Workers Union reaffirms and will continue to work vigorously in support of our call for the world's largest coffee chain to honor Dr. King's birthday on January 21st by paying baristas the holiday premium."

Take action at http://www.StarbucksUnion.org