Teamsters Warn UPS of 2028 Strike, Delaware's $669M Terminal, & Deadly Shipyard Fire | The Morning Minute

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We kick things off with a severe warning from the Teamsters Union to United Parcel Service. Brace for a strike when their contract expires in 2028

Teamsters president Sean O'Brien has put UPS and its 330,000 unionized drivers and package handlers on notice through a series of union podcasts. He's declaring that rank and file members will walk out if the company doesn't meet demands for even better terms than the current agreement. Among the key strike triggers are expected attempts to roll back health and pension benefits, automation and deployment of autonomous trucks, and alleged outsourcing of last mile delivery to non-union subsidiaries like Roadie.

O'Brien has been blunt about his pessimism stating, I am not optimistic of coming to a tentative agreement without striking UPS. Over at the ports, construction is officially underway on Delaware's largest ever maritime infrastructure project. It's a massive $669 million container terminal along the Delaware River. The Delaware Container Terminal, sited on 137 acres of former DuPont industrial land in Edgemore, began major construction in 2026 after federal dredging and seawall permits were reissued in April. The facility is designed to handle 1.2 million 20-foot equivalent units per year, served by 2,700 feet of quay, seven ship-to-shore gantry cranes, and 26 rubber-tired gantry cranes. The terminal will feature a 45-foot berth depth capable of accommodating the most coast-Panamax vessels of up to 16,000 TEUs, positioning it among the top tier of East Coast terminals.

State officials project the terminal will create nearly 6,000 new jobs once fully operational. The first waterside phase is targeted for completion by the end of 2028, with first containers potentially moving through by late that year. Finally, 25 people in China were killed after a cargo ship that was undergoing repairs caught fire. The fire broke out Thursday morning at about 11:15 a.m. and put out around 2.3 that afternoon, according to Chinese state media. The vessel, identified as the Liberia-flagged dry bulk carrier Ocean Melody, had 42 people on board at the time of the incident.

12 individuals were evacuated safely, and five were injured and taken to hospital in stable condition, while the remaining 25 were later found dead. The 20-year-old Ocean Melody had arrived at the Qingdao shipyard on August 31st for repair and inspection when the fire erupted.

The cause of the fire remained unclear as of Thursday evening, with authorities saying an investigation was underway.