Month: July 2023

UPS and the Teamsters union both announced on Tuesday that have reached a tentative contract on working conditions for UPS’s 340,000 unionized employees. If ratified, the contact would avert a strike that would have been the biggest in 60 years. Voting on the contract begins Aug. 3 and ends Aug. 22.

Part-time workers’ pay was a major sticking point in the negotiations, with many employees decrying the two-tier wage system in the current contract. The new Teamsters leadership called it “unfair,” and that tiered system will end under the new agreement. The new contract also raises starting pay for part-timers to $21 an hour, up from the current contracted pay of $15.50, and includes catch-up raises for longtime workers. Full-time workers will see their top hourly rate go up to $49 an hour. The Teamsters called the five-year contract “overwhelmingly lucrative,” and said it “raises wages for all workers, creates more full-time jobs, and includes dozens of workplace protections and improvements.”

Teamsters president Sean O’Brien said in a statement: “Rank-and-file UPS Teamsters sacrificed everything to get this country through a pandemic and enabled UPS to reap record-setting profits. We demanded the best contract in the history of UPS, and we got it.” The agreement also provides for air conditioning in trucks, paid time off for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and more full-time positions, according to the Teamsters.

UPS chief executive Carol Tomé said in a statement: “This agreement continues to reward UPS’s full- and part-time employees with industry-leading pay and benefits while retaining the flexibility we need to stay competitive, serve our customers and keep our business strong.” 

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LeBron James’ eldest son, LeBron “Bronny” James Jr., was hospitalized recently after suffering cardiac arrest. The 18-year-old was rushed to the hospital following a basketball workout at the University of Southern California on Monday, July 24. Bronny is currently in his freshman year at USC and is a member of the school’s basketball team.

According to TMZ Sports, a 911 call was made around 9:26 a.m. PT from the USC Galen Center in Los Angeles, California, where the Trojans basketball team plays and practices. According to the site, Bronny was unconscious and taken to the hospital via ambulance. A spokesperson for the James family told TMZ on Tuesday, July 25: “Medical staff was able to treat Bronny and take him to the hospital. He is now in stable condition and no longer in ICU. We ask for respect and privacy for the James family and we will update media when there is more information …LeBron and Savannah wish to publicly send their deepest thanks and appreciation to the USC medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes.”

LeBron and his wife, Savannah James, welcomed Bronny in October 2004; the couple also share son Bryce, 16, and daughter Zhuri, 8. Bronny, a McDonald’s All-American player, recently committed to playing ball for USC.

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An Ohio K-9 officer has been put on administrative leave following an incident this month in which the dog attacked a truck driver who was surrendering to state troopers with his hands up following a highway chase. Circleville Mayor Donald McIlroy said that K-9 Officer Ryan Speakman was placed on leave as the city’s five-member Use of Force Review Board investigates the circumstances of the incident that occurred on July 4 near Columbus.

McIlroy said he had viewed parts of the body-camera footage released by the Ohio State Highway Police that captured the police dog mauling 23-year-old Jadarrius Rose of Memphis, Tennessee.  He said: “We have a use of force review board that is looking at it. Once that is completed and I get it, then I will be making some decisions on when we release that report to the media.” McIlroy said the dog involved in the arrest has been put in a kennel while the investigation unfolds. The city’s Use of Force Review Board, comprised of community members, is expected to complete its report by the end of this week or next Monday. McIlroy said:  “This is the first time anything like this has happened. So, it’s new to us and this is why we have this review board. And once that review board is finished, we’ll make some determinations where we’ll go forward.”

According to the incident report, troopers from the state Highway Police Department’s Motor Carrier Enforcement Inspector unit attempted to pull Rose over for what they described as an alleged traffic defect violation. Rose allegedly refused to pull over and led troopers on a chase through three counties before police put stop sticks in the roadway ahead of the chase and blew out Rose’s tires, forcing him to stop and surrender to troopers. Body-camera video released by the state Highway Police shows the Circleville police dog arriving at the scene, and shows Rose complying with orders to get on his knees with both hands in the air. A police trooper can be heard in the video repeatedly yelling, “Do not release the dog with his hands up,” but the dog was apparently let loose and attacked Rose.

Rose was treated at a hospital following the K-9 attack and released into the custody of the state Highway Police. He was booked at the Ross County Jail on charges of failure to comply, a fourth-degree felony

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Police in Hoover, Alabama announced that days after a woman was found safe after she was allegedly kidnapped after stopping to help a toddler walking along the highway, the woman has now admitted she was not abducted. During a press conference Monday afternoon, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis read a statement from Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell’s attorney, Emory Anthony, who said that the 25-year-old woman was not abducted the night of July 13 as she and her family had previously reported, and that she had not seen a child walking along I-459 the night she disappeared.

The statement read by Russell’s attorney read: “My client has given me permission to make the following statement on her behalf. There was no kidnapping on Thursday, July 13, 2023. My client did not see a baby on the side of the road. My client did not leave Hoover area when she was identified as a missing person. My client did not have help in this incident, that this was a single act done by herself. My client was not with anyone or any hotel with anyone from the time she was missing. My client apologizes for her actions to this community, the volunteers who were searching for her, to the Hoover Police Department and other agencies as well as to her friends and family. We ask for your prayers for Carlee as she addresses her issues and attempts to move forward, understanding that she made a mistake in this matter. Carlee, again, asks for your forgiveness and prayers.”

Russell ‘disappeared’ after calling 911 on the night of July 13 after telling a dispatcher that she stopped along I-459 on her way home from work after seeing the toddler walking by himself in a diaper along the highway. However when officials arrived on the scene, they found Russell’s car still running with her belongings inside, but she was nowhere to be found. After a statewide search that lasted over 48 hours, Russell was found on July 15 after reportedly walking home. Police said they were “unable to verify” her claims about a missing toddler and other key details from the 911 call.

Chief Derzis told reporters at Monday’s press conference that, “We knew it was a hoax. I’m glad we got this [referring to Russell’s statement]. We certainly laid the facts out to you guys. The sad thing is, there were so many people that were involved and took this thing very very seriously, we wanted the focus to be bringing her home, we’re excited about that.” Derzis said police would be meeting with Anthony and that charges against Russell would be announced when and if they were filed. No motive for Russell’s false abduction report were revealed.

Editorial credit: Tudoran Andreis / Shutterstock.com