Washington, DC – A delegation of African American workers from the Communications Workers of America sent a letter to Lumen Technologies CEO Jeff Storey, January 11, asking that he designate the federal Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday for all Lumen workers.

In November, Lumen, formerly known as CenturyLink, announced that the company would, for the first time, be giving non-union workers the holiday in an effort to make Lumen more “diverse and inclusive.”

“We are deeply disappointed by Lumen’s recently announced decision to give the MLK Holiday to everyone except union members,” the letter reads. “In your announcement, leadership cited listening to employees and the significance of Dr. King’s message. Yet this decision directly undermines Dr. King’s legacy of fighting for civil and labor rights. We are asking you to make it right and extend the MLK paid holiday to all Lumen workers.”

The letter was accompanied by signatures from 1500 Lumen workers and community supporters who signed a petition asking Storey to include union members in the holiday.

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