Brookhaven, MS: FedEx driver shot at by two men sues for $5 million – National & International News – WED 29Nov2023

Brookhaven, MS: FedEx driver shot at by two men sues for $5 million. 

UAW push to unionize Toyota, Tesla, other automakers.

US foiled plot by Indian official to assassinate American Sikh activist, DOJ says.

NATIONAL NEWS

Brookhaven, MS: FedEx driver shot at by two men sues for $5 million

Last year, D’Monterrio Gibson, then 24, was driving his delivery route for FedEx when his van was shot at by two white men, father and son Gregory and Brandon Case. Gibson was not injured but the bullets pierced the back door of the van and damaged several packages. The Cases were arrested for attempted murder, but a trial ended in a mistrial this summer.

The day after the shooting, FedEx sent Gibson to drive his usual route, causing him considerable distress. After a backlash, the company put Gibson on leave. Gibson learned he’d been fired from the company days after the Cases’ mistrial. 

Gibson is now suing the Cases and FedEx for $5 million. A judge dismissed a previous suit by Gibson naming the Cases, FedEx, the city of Brookhaven and its police chief. 

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

UAW launches push to organize Toyota, Tesla, other non-union automakers

United Auto Workers members at Stellantis, GM and Ford recently ratified a new 4.5-year contract containing 25% wage increases (up to 160% more for temp workers and workers at parts distributors), the revival of cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), as well as some improvements to pensions and other benefits. Automakers gave this record offer after a 7-week strike by UAW members at all three companies. Shortly thereafter, non-union companies, including Toyota, announced 9-11% wage hikes for their employees to begin next year.

Union leadership says employees from Tesla, Toyota, BMW and Nissan have already reached out to join the UAW. Workers from those companies are already signing union cards online at UAW’s website. The union is also launching efforts to organize 9 other non-union automakers: Honda, Hyundai, Lucid, Mazda, Mercedes, Rivian, Subaru, Volkswagen and Volvo. There are about 150,000 workers across the 13 auto companies.

UAW President Shawn Fain has called for other unions to align their contract expirations with theirs on April 30, 2028. Fain hopes to organize a major general strike on May 1, 2028, which is International Worker’s Day. The push to unionize more companies now is part of a strategy to gain more leverage for the union to win even better contracts for their workers in the future.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

US foiled plot by Indian official to assassinate American Sikh activist, prosecutors say

In September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government was investigating allegations that Indian officials were behind the June slaying of Sikh independence advocate Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh independence advocate. Nijjar was gunned down outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, BC. At the time, there were also reports that the US was assisting Canadian authorities in the investigation.

Now, the US says it has foiled a similar plot against an American Sikh activist in New York, allegedly by an unnamed Indian official. An indictment published by the Department of Justice today alleges that the same official also ordered the death of Nijjar in Canada.

The BBC reports that Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, is currently jailed in the Czech Republic pending extradition. Gupta is accused of trying to hire a hitman for $100,000 in cash to kill the American activist, at the direction of the unnamed official. The hitman Gupta attempted to hire was an undercover DEA agent.

Sikhs are an ethnoreligious minority numbering between 23-28 million in India. The largest concentration is in the state of Punjab in northern India, where they are in the majority. Sikhs have suffered violent oppression for centuries and have long sought an independent homeland.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).