IDW today released a press release stating that due to situations beyond their control there would be no IDW comics on shelves on 18th February 2015.
The e-mail arrived just after 09:00 GMT this morning, so clearly IDW were holding off on the bad news until absolutely necessary.
Here is what they said:
“Due to the ongoing problems at West coast ports, our normal shipping procedures have been completely interrupted, causing unpredictable delays. Regrettably, this has resulted in all our books planned for release on 2/18 to be delayed. We’ve looked at every possible scenario to prevent this, but the situation is completely beyond our control. We are taking steps to improve this for the immediate future, but the books and products that are currently on the water cannot be re-directed. We will be updating our weekly releases and keeping you informed as the situation works toward a resolution. We understand this is not an ideal situation, and apologize for any inconvenience this causes, and look forward to things getting back to normal in ensuing weeks.”
I’ll bring updates when I receive them..
It is all to do with a dispute regarding the way issues are dealt with when there are problems over safety. Arbitrators in such disputes are in place for life, so once someone is in that position that’s that. The Unions want to have these terms limited with the possibility for the outgoing Arbitrator to stay on if both sides agree.
Longbeach Port don’t seem to have publicly commented on this from what I have been able to see between hearing the news and writing this article.
I’m not going to get in to a more indepth debate on the politics of this. I’m a Trade Unionist in the UK, I used to represent Members interests locally while doing the same say to day job with them. I was also for a while a Tutor within the Union teaching Union Reps the law regarding Discrimination. So my views are a little too set. Obviously the impact on other people’s livelihood is obviously a concern. This could have severe affects on haulage companies and businesses of all sizes that import or export.
Hopefully the issue will be cleared soon.
Judge-Tutor Semple 