An agreement has been reached between Arriva and the General Workers' Union and industrial action has been suspended.

The agreement was reached during a five-hour conciliation meeting led by the Noel Vella, the director of Employment and Industrial Relations.

The meeting was held to iron out the issues between the union and the company which led to the bus service grinding to a halt last night in a strike over what the union said were "long and inhuman" rosters.

It was agreed during the meeting that a new roster should be drawn up and that this should be implemented within a month. In the meantime, workers will be given financial compensation for some hours they worked in the present roster and would not be asked to work more than two split-shifts every 15 days.

The two sides also agreed that should the need arise, they will meet again within four weeks to go through developments.

The union insisted it would not allow disciplinary steps to be taken against workers who yesterday followed its legitimate directive. The company declared that no workers would be dismissed.