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Good Morning The seemingly never-ending flow of news stories about ethical standards in the workplace continues to dominate the headlines on an almost daily basis. Bullying, discrimination and, of course, pay gaps are always in the spotlight. But the phrase “forced arbitration” has come to the fore this week after the co-ordinated international protest by Google workers. The phrase apparently also features in the contracts of many workers in so called other silicon valley companies. Forced arbitration demands that any disputes are dealt with internally rather than through the courts. One can interpret the idea of “forced arbitration” in starkly contrasting ways. On the one hand, in the event of a dispute, it’s obviously designed to protect the reputations of both the employer and employee from potential collateral damage. Whilst it is also possible to agree with the website Quartz.com that a lack of transparency isn’t good news for “those who are oppressed and silenced by more sinister and more deeply engrained workplace cultures”. The problem, it would seem, as in all such workplace dispute stories comes down to doing away with archaic hierarchical practises in the contemporary workplace whilst, at the same time, establishing a mutually acceptable trust and balance between workers and their bosses which is obviously preferable. Reflecting theologically on the notion of “forced arbitration” has proved to be interesting. For there’s quite a bit of direct teaching from Jesus on the question of how to deal with disputes and arbitration. He issues two broad bits of advice. “Sort it out quickly” and – “don’t ignore your own faults”. So don’t go to the altar to pray whilst you are still in dispute with another, Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew: deal with the problem first and then your conscience is clear. You can get on with your life and work more effectively. And then, even more importantly, Jesus warns against spending time judging others without first looking at our own faults. He says - Don’t focus on the speck of dust in your colleagues’ eye when there is a plank of wood in your own! The New Testament scholar David Hill paraphrases this as “since you will never be able to get rid of your own hindrances and see absolutely clearly, do not condemn another’s fault.” Currently, in the workplace, let’s be honest, there are so many issues adding tension between the mutual flourishing and wellbeing of both employer and employee. And so, how do we deal with this? Arbitration? – yes for sure: the Christian tradition embraces and celebrates the practise. But Forced arbitration? – perhaps not. Rather focus instead on listening to one another with an open mind so that issues are resolved and difficult situations made better?