BrownCafe

“Black Voices from Big Brown” book is a creative and ambitious project at UPS, chronicling the experience of 29 current and former Black executives at the company.

The archival project has become a book and podcast spearheaded by longtime journalist and executive producer April Nelson.

She, along with Nikki Clifton, president of social impact and The UPS Foundation, joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes to talk about the project and how it illuminates the stories of Black workers and their achievements at UPS.

Arrival, a U.K.-based electric truck startup backed by Hyundai Motor and BlackRock, is planning a second U.S. “microfactory” that will make battery-powered delivery vans for UPS as the company also gets ready for a Nasdaq listing.

The new $41.2 million assembly facility will be set up in suburban Charlotte, North Carolina, where Arrival also has its U.S. headquarters, near Charlotte Douglas International Airport. It will employ about 250 people and be able to produce about 10,000 electric vans a year when it opens in late 2022. UPS, which has been testing Arrival vehicles in the U.K. and plans to buy up to 10,000 units for use in the U.S. and Europe, will likely be a primary customer, the company said.

Two UPS truck drivers recently saved a man’s life following a semi-truck versus pedestrian accident that happened in Tonopah, Nevada.

UPS drivers Julie Jefferson and Spencer McVay say they were driving along a rural stretch of highway in Nevada when they saw a man pinned underneath his own jackknifed semi-truck.

Realizing the man was bleeding out from a severed limb, Jefferson and McVay used the man’s belt to apply a tourniquet before moving the vehicle off of him

On March 1, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 2727 filed a lawsuit against UPS Airlines, alleging that it has not resolved serious sanitation problems at its Worldport hub in Louisville, Kentucky.

The complaint refers to “serious, chronic sanitary concerns” during the COVID-19 pandemic that put flight crew workers in an environment where they have a high risk of becoming infected with the coronavirus. The 30-page lawsuit says that “The Union seeks injunctive relief herein to prevent the potential loss of life or serious injury of its members—and indeed, the public at large—because of the Company’s intentional disregard for their well-being.”

The lawsuit seeks to compel UPS to create a cleaning schedule for all frequently touched surfaces, including vehicles and restrooms. The corporation would also be required to come up with a “deep-cleaning” procedure for after an employee tests positive for COVID-19 and the union is told where it happened. The lawsuit claims that “serial complaints” have been filed by the Teamsters about the lack of sanitary conditions. The complaints allege that UPS failed to keep restrooms clean and stocked with paper towels, soap, wipes, and hand sanitizer. Break rooms with food preparation areas are said to be “dirty and unsanitary” with walls that are “dirty and covered with waste particles.”