Connect with us

Published

9 months ago

on

Amazon workersat seven US facilitieswalked off the job early on Thursdayduring the holiday shopping rush, aiming to pressure the retailer intocontracttalkswith theirunion.

Warehouse workers in cities including New York, Atlanta and San Francisco are taking part in the “largest” strike against Amazon, said the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents about 10,000 workers at 10 of the firm’s facilities.

“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed,” Teamsters’ General President Sean O’Brien said late on Wednesday.

“We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it. This strike is on them.”

The union had given Amazon a Dec. 15 deadline to begin negotiations and warehouse workers had recently voted to authorize a strike.

Amazon said it does not expect any impact to its operations. The union has “intentionally misled the public” and “threatened, intimidated and attempted to coerce” employees and third-party drivers to join them, a company spokesperson said.

Unionized facilities account for just 1% of Amazon’s hourly workforce and areas such as New York City have multiple warehouses and smaller delivery depots, which could help Amazon blunt any potential strike impact.

Observers said Amazon was unlikely to come to the table to bargain as that could open the door to more union actions. It employs more than 1.5 million people globally and has said it prefers direct relationships with workers.

The retailer’s shares AMZN.Owere trading slightly higher in premarket hours, a sign that investors do not expect a big disruption from the strike.

Earlier this year, the company announced a $2.1 billion investment to raise pay for fulfillment and transportation employees in the US, increasing base wages for employees by at least $1.50 to around $22 per hour, a roughly 7% increase.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Science

Asteroids vs Comets vs Meteors vs Meteorites: What Are They and How Are They Different From Each Other?

Published

33 mins ago

on

September 6, 2025

By

Asteroids, comets, meteoroids, meteors, and meteorites may seem similar, but each plays a unique role in the Solar System. Asteroids are rocky remnants, comets are icy wanderers, meteors are shooting stars, and meteorites are fragments that survive the plunge to Earth.

Continue Reading

World

Cable snapped in deadly Lisbon funicular crash, report finds

Published

33 mins ago

on

September 6, 2025

By

Cable snapped in deadly Lisbon funicular crash, report finds

A report into the deadly Lisbon Gloria funicular crash has said the cable linking the two carriages snapped.

The carriages of the city’s iconic Gloria funicular had travelled no more than six metres when they “suddenly lost the balancing force of the connecting cable”.

The vehicle’s brake‑guard immediately “activated the pneumatic brake as well as the manual brake”, the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft Accidents and Railway Accidents said.

Flowers for the victims in Lisbon. Pic: AP
Image:
Flowers for the victims in Lisbon. Pic: AP

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

But the measures “had no effect in reducing the vehicle’s speed”, as it accelerated and crashed at around 60kmh (37mph), and the disaster unfolded in less than 50 seconds.

Questions have been asked about the maintenance of the equipment, but the report said that, based on the evidence seen so far, it was up to date.

A scheduled visual inspection had been carried out on the morning of the accident, but the area where the cable broke “is not visible without dismantling.”

The Gloria funicular is a national monument that dates from 1914 and is very popular with tourists visiting the Portuguese capital.

The Gloria funicular connects Lisbon's Restauradores Square to the Bairro Alto viewpoint
Image:
The Gloria funicular connects Lisbon’s Restauradores Square to the Bairro Alto viewpoint

It operates between Restauradores Square in downtown Lisbon and the Bairro Alto neighbourhood.

The journey is just 276m (905ft) and takes just over a minute, but it operates up a steep hill, with two carriages travelling in opposite directions.

How the disaster unfolded

At around 6pm on Wednesday, Cabin No.2, at the bottom of the funicular, “jerked backward sharply”, the report said.

“After moving roughly 10 metres, its movement stopped as it partially left the tracks and its trolley became buried at the lower end of the cable channel.”

Cabin No.1, at the top, “continued descending and accelerated” before derailing and smashing “sideways into the wall of a building on the left side, destroying the wooden box [from which the carriage is constructed]”.

It crashed into a cast‑iron streetlamp and a support pole, causing “significant damage” before hitting “the corner of another building”.

Cable failed at top

Analysis of the wreckage showed the cable connecting the cabins failed where it was attached inside the upper trolley of cabin No.1 at the top.

The cable’s specified useful life is 600 days and at the time of the accident, it had been used for 337 days, leaving another 263 days before needing to be replaced.

The operating company regards this life expectancy as having “a significant safety margin”.

The exact number of people aboard each cabin when it crashed has not been confirmed.

Britons killed in disaster

Kayleigh Smith, 36, and William Nelson, 44, died alongside 14 others in Wednesday’s incident, including another British victim who has not yet been named.

Read more on Sky News:
Clashes at Palestine Action protest
The saint of the internet age
Donatella Versace among Armani mourners

Five Portuguese citizens died when the packed carriage plummeted out of control – four of them workers at a charity on the hill – but most victims were foreigners.

Continue Reading

Sports

FSU players honor Pritchard with dad on hand

Published

1 hour ago

on

September 6, 2025

By

FSU players honor Pritchard with dad on hand

  • Andrea AdelsonSep 6, 2025, 01:51 PM ET

    Close

    • ACC reporter.
    • Joined ESPN.com in 2010.
    • Graduate of the University of Florida.

The father of Florida State linebacker Ethan Pritchard was on the sideline Saturday for the Seminoles’ game against East Texas A&M.

Earl Pritchard and another family member were on the sideline wearing his son’s No. 35 jersey. Ethan Pritchard remains hospitalized in Tallahassee after surviving a gunshot wound to the head last weekend.

Florida State safety Earl Little Jr. brought out a No. 35 jersey to midfield for the coin toss, and Florida State players wore No. 35 wristbands to honor their teammate.

Defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. wore a T-shirt with Pritchard’s face on it during pregame warmups.

According to Earl Pritchard, Ethan Pritchard was driving his aunt home when he was shot in the back of the head in Havana, Florida, 16 miles from Tallahassee, on Sunday night.

The Seminoles routed East Texas A&M 77-3 on Saturday, after which coach Mike Norvell presented Earl Pritchard with the game ball, and asked him to break the rock – a tradition generally given to the player of the game after each Seminoles victory.

Norvell grew emotional as he discussed Pritchard during his postgame media availability.

“The way that he plays the game … he loves it, he absolutely loves it. To know that right now that’s taken away from him in a senseless act, you don’t always know why you have to go through things in life but I do believe God has his hand over Ethan and this football team,” Norvell said.

“To have Earl here today – He’s a wonderful man, and being with him I know it’s so very hard. I know it’s hard for anybody to have to go through, but he told me early in this week, ‘I know where my boy wants to be so I’m going to go stand in his place for him.'”

Continue Reading

Trending