Category: UPS News

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. And UPS is marking the occasion by awarding grant funding to AAPI-owned businesses.

This $150,000 grant program is part of UPS’s Proudly Unstoppable initiative. And the Asian American & Pacific Islander Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship (ACE) is helping to administer grants.

About UPS and National ACE’s Proudly Unstoppable Grants​

Eligible businesses can apply for grants of $5,000. To qualify, businesses must be at least 51 percent AAPI-owned, be a for-profit business in the U.S. with no more than three locations or affiliations with a national brand, and be adversely affected by the pandemic.

In addition to the grant program, UPS is highlighting AAPI entrepreneurs on its website. And the company is offering a limited-edition Express Box designed by AAPI artist Mojo Wang.

The Teamsters Package Division is urging eligible UPS package drivers to protect themselves from excessive overtime by signing up on the 9.5 list, as required by the National Master Agreement. The requirement was suspended during the pandemic, but as of June 5 the company will no longer honor the current 9.5 list. That means drivers need to sign up to get on the list to protect their rights.

“The 9.5 list is a tool that helps prevent abusive over-dispatching and gives drivers the right to file grievances over pay when they are dispatched more than 9.5 hours more than twice a week,” said Sean M. O’Brien, Teamsters General President. “Our goal is to stop UPS from overworking drivers and to make UPS pay drivers when it violates their 9.5 rights.”

When UPS violates 9.5 rights, Article 37 of the National Master Agreement calls for the company to adjust the driver’s work schedule and pay triple time – instead of time and a half – for time worked in excess of 9.5 hours in a day.

Amidst a nationwide truck driver shortage, Congresswoman Sharice Davids took to the Kansas roads on her own UPS route with a Lenexa driver.

On Friday, May 6, U.S. Congresswoman Sharice Davids (D-KS) says she worked a “Sharice Shift” in which she delivered packages with UPS in Lenexa.

Representative Davids said she joined driver Jeff Dossett to tour the UPS trailer facility and ride along to deliver packages to local businesses and highlight her work to improve ongoing supply chain issues and boost employment in the trucking industry amidst a nationwide driver shortage.

UPS provided financial backing to a pro-choice group that is said to be planning protests against churches in response to the leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court that indicated the court is on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade.

The pro-choice group Rise Up for Abortion Rights is planning to protest churches on Mother’s Day with other abortion activist organizations, including the New York City-based Dominican Women’s Development Center (DWDC).

UPS has provided financial support to the DWDC through its charitable arm, according to tax filings and DWDC’s public statements.

An Odessa man was arrested late last week after a traffic stop turned into a drug bust. Timothy Daniel Degreer, 25, has been charged with Possession of a Dangerous Drug and Theft of Cargo.

According to an affidavit, on April 28, Degreer was pulled over in the 100 block of W 23rd Street by an officer with the Odessa Police Department for an expired registration. When the officer approached Degreer’s car, he saw a black bag on the passenger seat that contained syringes and cotton balls. Degreer reportedly admitted to the officer that he used the syringes to inject heroin. Police later found heroin and other stolen prescriptions in the car.

Additionally, while the officer was searching the vehicle, he found multiple shipping packages meant for other people. When questioned, the officer said Degreer admitted to stealing the packages from his job at UPS. Among the stolen items recovered were phones, cologne, jewelry, Beats headphones, Apple AirPods, purses, clothes, toys, ammunition, and collectibles.