Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports First Quarter Fiscal Year 2024 Operating Results

The July edition of the Association of American Publishers’ StatShot program showed a clear divide between the current fortunes of trade and educational publishers. Sales of adult books rose 20.9% in the month over July 2019, and sales in the children/young adult category increased 14.5%. Sales of religious books were up 4% over July 2019. In contrast, sales in the K-12 instructional materials category fell 24.9% compared to last July, while sales in the higher educational course materials segment fell 21.9%. Overall, industry sales from the 1,361 publishers who report sales to the AAP fell 9.4% in the month, and were down 5.8% in the first seven months of 2020 compared to a year ago.

Embroiled in a pensions dispute since April, 110,000 Royal Mail Communication Workers Union (CWU) members were due to stage a 48-hour walkout from next Thursday (19 October) at 11am, after 89.1% of those who voted opted for strike action, the first major ballot to take place since the new Trade Union Act came into force. Royal Mail said the action would be unlawful if the CWU did not follow dispute resolution procedures and, according to the BBC, Mr Justice Supperstone, who granted the injunction yesterday (12 October), asked that the “defendant withdraw its strike call until the external mediation process can be exhausted”. A Royal Mail statement said that the High Court had ruled that the contractual dispute resolution procedures under its Agenda for Growth be followed before industrial action take place. Click Read More below for additional information.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) contract with maritime employers, represented by the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), is set to expire on the 30th September 2024 and with under 10 weeks remaining, negotiations have stalled, making a strike increasingly likely. Any strike that potentially impacts all Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports would cause significant disruption to containerised US import and exports, especially with West Coast port workers potentially refusing to handle diverted cargo in solidarity. However, the ILA has a record of resolving contracts without strikes, with the last major disruption occurring in 1977 and had planned to resolve local jurisdiction contracts before starting master contract talks but these negotiations were cancelled due to a dispute at the Port of Mobile. The USMX has expressed a desire to move forward productively but acknowledges that time is running out.