Australia's Qantas Airlines could be back in the air as early as Monday following a ruling from a labor tribunal.
The tribunal ordered Qantas and its unions to immediately terminate all industrial action and return to the negotiating table in an effort to resolve a prolonged and bitter industrial dispute.
Qantas took the drastic action amid a bitter battle with its unions over pay and working conditions and a strategy to set up two new airlines in Asia. Almost 500 flights and more than 68,000 passengers have been impacted by the shut down.
The Australian government welcomed the decision.
Assistant Treasurer, Bill Shorten.
SOUNDBITE: Australian Assistant Treasurer, Bill Shorten, saying (English):
"The Gillard government is pleased that our application has been successful tonight. We are very conscious that there are tens of thousands of travelers who have been stranded throughout Australia and the rest of the world. We're conscious that there are people who can't get to work, or people who can't get back to their families. We're conscious that the Australian economy has been put at the risk of great damage, and our mining sector and our tourism sector. We believe that this industrial action by Qantas and the unions needed to come to a halt."
The union movement had argued for a temporary suspension of industrial action, rather than a permanent termination, but nonetheless, expressed satisfaction at the outcome.
Jeff Lawrence of the Australian Council of Unions
SOUNDBITE: Jeff Lawrence of the Australian Council of Unions, saying (English):
"It's unfortunate that it's taken the intervention of the federal government to force Qantas to negotiate about these issues around job security and to end the lock-out. But that has been necessary, and the fact that the federal government has taken that action I think has led to this generally positive result."
Qantas and the three unions now have 21 days to reach an agreement or face binding arbitration, the tribunal said.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters