Fair Dinkum, Cobber

Qantas flights resume after industrial dispute
'Fair dinkum, cobber' - is an Australian saying which no one has ever directed towards me - but means 'fair play to you, mate' - as far as I know.

And that seems to be an apt phrase top use in connection with the Qantas dispute - which seems to have ended - vitually overnight. 

Qantas had grounded all of its flights in an increasingly biiter dispute with its trade unions - whom the company accused of making unreasonable demands.

But instead of dragging things out for months on end - the issues involved were put to an independent arbitration panel - which seems to have ruled in the company's favour and ordered everyone back to work.

Now I don't know much about the independent tribunal involved - but it does seem to have done the trick - by coming down largely in favour of one side or the other - instead of splitting hairs.

If that's what has happened it's called pendulum arbitration - which means just that - choosing between different and sometimes highly polarised arguments.

The advantage being that it encourages both sides in an industrial dispute to behave reasonably - not to exaggerate things.

Otherwise if the dispute is referred to arbitration - then the party that has been rowing its boat out too far is likely to lose.

In the UK we have ACAS - the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service - but this quango does not enjoy the best of reputations and lacks real teeth.

Everyone involved in a industrial dispute in the UK has to agree to ACAS becoming involved - and it has no history of moving quickly to bring in decisive judgments - as the long-running BA dispute being the perfect example.

So maybe our Aussie friends have come up with a good idea - Fair Work Australia is the name of the independent tribunal - which has brought the Qantas dispute to a swift end.

Fair dinkum, cobbers.

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