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United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in three days. The ex-dividend date occurs one day before the record date which is the day on which shareholders need to be on the company’s books in order to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company’s books on the record date. Accordingly, United Parcel Service investors that purchase the stock on or after the 13th of May will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 2nd of June.

The company’s next dividend payment will be US$1.52 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$6.08 per share. Based on the last year’s worth of payments, United Parcel Service stock has a trailing yield of around 3.4% on the current share price of $179.92. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. As a result, readers should always check whether United Parcel Service has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

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.