Transport Minister Terry Lister today defended his decision to give a fired bus worker back his job.And he said: “It's not a question of backing down. It's a question of ensuring that the man has been dealt with to some degree of satisfaction, and that the country is not penalised for one man's inappropriate actions.”Asked if he had been threatened with a general strike, Mr Lister said: “Yes. In our own Ministry, we were scheduled to meet with Marine and Ports this morning, and a strike very possibly would have gone ahead.”On the question of whether or not the decision had been his alone to make, the Minister said: “That is the official word”.Bus drivers went back to work this morning after Government agreed that the sacked driver could be reinstated. He will be suspended for five weeks and have a letter put on his file.He was dismissed after went sick but was found working a second job. It was his second similar offence - the first time he was suspended for two weeks.It prompted bus drivers to walk out on Tuesday afternoon and government to issue an order getting them to return to work. The issue was also sent to arbitration.This morning President of the Bermuda Industrial Union, Chris Furbert, met with Mr Lister at TCD and later announced that the bus driver was to be reinstated and that buses would resume services at midday. He also said that striking bus drivers would be paid for their late shift last night.Mr Lister said the decision not to reinstate the worker had been made before meeting with Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) representatives and after Government had decided to go ahead with arbitration.“Obviously, we have an eye to public opinion, and 95 percent of people are against this stance. But there is a prolonged issue of a strike, which at this point in time we did not want.”Although most people had wanted Government to “stand up”, he said, the questions of why they had not was “valid to ask, and a question that must be put to the Government as a whole”.The Minister said: “For us to have to endure a full frontal assault and win, we would only have won against a strike. We would not have won the hearts and minds. Right now is not the time to have a disgruntled team.“If we had chosen to go to court, today we would have been in court and said tomorrow we're going to start arresting people. (BIU president) Chris Furbert was not going to talk to (Economy Minister) Kim Wilson. The decision was on us. We were in the position where we would have started taking bus drivers and putting them in front of the courts. An individual was wrong but 100 people in front of a judge? Sometimes you have to think for yourself and sometimes you have to think about other people.”Asked if Government's capitulation set a dangerous precedent, Mr Lister said: “That precedent is a risk and something Cabinet will have to make a decision on, when we go forward.”He added: “I don't like to use the term ‘backing down'.”On suggestions that it would be perceived us such, he admitted: “Obviously, that was a concern of ours when we made the decision.”But Mr Lister insisted: “It's easy for bystanders to take a position, but when people go in front of the court, opinions can sway.”On the issue of the fired man's doctor's note against working, he said: “The medical certificate only makes it worse. If he had a doctor's certificate, then clearly he shouldn't have been working.”He said: “We have got tough times ahead over the next few months. A standoff, pre-Budget, with a big fight against the union over one guy, just isn't the way. The man in question is now back in the job, and I hope as Minister that his name never crosses my desk again.”This afternoon the UBP's Shadow Transport Minister Charles Swan said: "The Minister might have stayed his ground. He could have made a case to the people if he's serious."We may have had widespread industrial action, but, in these economic times, the greater good might have been served, as I believe that the right thinking men and women in the concerned Ministry and Department can and would have prevailed."The inevitable could have been dealt with now, because Bermudians should not be held hostage by the actions of a few."This morning bus drivers had marched on TCD as the action entered its third day.But Mr Furbert emerged from the building to say that the industrial action was over and that buses would be back on the road by noon.Mr Furbert said he did not share the view that continuing the strike was illegal in light of a Gazette Extraordinary which was issued by Government yesterday in a bid to stop the action.And he said Government had decided to resolve the matter without getting a third party involved - the issue had been referred to an arbitration tribunal by Government yesterday.Nor did he view it as a Government cave in as the driver had been suspended for five weeks and placed on one year's probation.* Take the poll on this website: Was Government right to reinstate the sacked bus driver?