7.26.2023

UPS Labor Contract Deal

UPS reached a tentative five-year agreement with about 340,000 Teamsters union workers yesterday, one week ahead of a potential strike that would have disrupted supply chains nationwide.

The historic $30B deal, considered to be the largest private sector contract in North America, includes higher pay for part-time workers, who comprise more than half of the UPS employees represented by the union. The minimum starting wage for part-time workers would rise to $21 per hour from $16.20. Hourly pay for existing full- and part-time workers would increase by $7.50 over the duration of the contract. The deal would also require air conditioning in delivery trucks purchased after Jan. 1, 2024, and make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a full holiday for the first time. Union members will vote on the deal from Aug. 3 to Aug. 22. See contract details here. 

Last year, UPS workers, on average, sorted and delivered 24.3 million packages a day, amounting to 6.2 billion packages annually, up from 5.5 billion in 2019. 

Bronny James Hospitalized

Bronny James, the 18-year-old son of NBA superstar LeBron James, is in stable condition after being hospitalized Monday following a cardiac arrest during basketball practice at the University of Southern California. The long-term effects of the incident are unclear.

The 6-foot-3 guard joined the USC program as a freshman this summer, and he currently ranks as the No. 36 overall prospect for next year's NBA draft. His father, who at age 38 is entering his 21st NBA season, has expressed hopes he could play one year in the league alongside Bronny.

Cardiac arrest occurs when electrical irregularities suddenly stop the heart's beat (watch video) and is distinct from a heart attack, the result of a blocked artery. Without CPR and defibrillation shocks, death typically occurs. Roughly 350,000 people suffer from cardiac arrests outside of a hospital in the US each year. 

Separately, Boston Celtic's All-Star Jaylen Brown accepted a five-year, $304M extension Tuesday, the richest deal in NBA history. 

Emmett Till Monument Established

President Joe Biden signed a proclamation yesterday designating multiple locations as national monuments honoring the life and death of Emmett Till, and his mother, on what would have been Till's 82nd birthday.

Till, a Black 14-year-old, was kidnapped, tortured, and killed in Mississippi after he allegedly whistled at a white woman, who then claimed he grabbed and sexually harassed her at a convenience store in 1955. (In 2017, it was revealed the woman had admitted to fabricating her testimony.) Two suspects disposed of Till's body in a river and were tried and acquitted by an all-white jury, despite later admitting to the murder in a magazine article. Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, held an open-casket funeral prompting images of Till's mutilated body to be circulated, catalyzing the civil rights movement.

The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument sites will include the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, where Till’s funeral was held; the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Mississippi, where the suspects were acquitted; and a Tallahatchie River bank in Mississippi, where his body was found.

Science & Technology

Business & Markets

Politics & World Affairs

The most iconic diners in every US state.

... and visualizing when Americans eat dinner. 

Where high earners are moving to in the US. 

How priceless documents are preserved at the National Archives.

The giants in Earth's rivers—from alligator gars to colossal catfish. 

Glimpse inside a shark feeding frenzy (w/video). 

Ten strange and specific rules at US National Parks.

Skittles' newest limited flavor may pair well with hotdogs.

Clickbait: The longest habanero pepper kiss.

Historybook: US postal system established (1775); Federal Bureau of Investigation is founded (1908); Sir Mick Jagger born (1943); Actress Dame Helen Mirren born (1945); Former Argentine first lady Eva Perón dies (1952).