People stand outside a Starbucks Coffee shop in Washington on September 16, 2013.
Starbucks is asking customers to sign a petition calling for an end to the government shutdown.
The petition, which will be available in all of Starbucks’ 11,000 stores in the U.S. on Friday, demands that the government reopen, pay its debts, and pass a long-term budget this year, the AP reports.
The call to end the government shutdown is the latest instance in which Starbucks, and its outspoken CEO Howard Schultz, have waded into the national political debate. In September, Schultz asked customers not to bring guns into Starbucks stores; last year, Starbucks asked employees to write “Come Together” on coffee cups to send a message to Congress during the “fiscal cliff” negotiations; and in 2011, Schultz led an effort among CEOs to halt campaign contributions until Congress resolved the debt ceiling crisis. More than 100 CEOs joined Schultz in that effort.
[AP]