PORTLAND (AP) - Banks, schools and the mailman don't have to work on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but almost two decades after the holiday was established, many companies still do not recognize it.

Most employers who do not give the day off say they can't afford to add another holiday to their payroll.

"It's pure economics," said Hank Snow, vice president of human resources for Roseburg Forest Products, one of Oregon's largest employers. "We already have 11 paid holidays, including two floating holidays. We aren't adding any more paid holidays."

Nationwide, the holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader has particular emotional resonance for many people. Whether and how it is honored can become a charged issue. Some bristle when employers do not offer the day off.

TriMet management has been at odds with some employees over the transit agency's handling of the King holiday. This year marks the first time TriMet recognizes the holiday under its new union contract. Though the agency is paying all union members extra for working on Monday, it is not running Sunday-level bus service as it does on all other holidays.

That's because ridership is anticipated to be 75 percent of a normal weekday, based on last year's figures, said Mary Fetsch, TriMet spokeswoman.

Some drivers are unhappy about TriMet's decision.

Laverne Ballard, the TriMet driver who's leading a petition drive to protest the agency's treatment of the holiday, said she feels there is a double standard about the King holiday, "and Martin Luther King was not about double standards."

While some want the day off, others say they don't want the King holiday to become simply another reason for a weekend getaway or department-store sale, and instead advocate for employers to sponsor community service projects.

A new Kaiser Permanente Northwest "Day of Service" program launched this year pays as many as 400 employees to spend a half-day working at the Oregon Food Bank on Monday.

Harold Williams, chairman of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Oregon, said he's not overly concerned with "the mechanics of the holiday."

"This day is about recognizing the contributions that a man gave his life for, for the betterment of humankind," he said. "How people choose to celebrate it is the onus of the individual."