Workers are expected to return to Universal Electric this morning following a four-day strike after an agreement was reached over their new collective bargaining agreement.

The 52 field workers, who walked off the site on Monday, have agreed to accept an offer from the company over the redundancy clause of the agreement.

The company had refused to meet demands from the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) that employees, should they be made redundant, be paid 52 weeks pay.

Universal Electric wanted to pay redundancy in accordance with the new Employment Act.

Yesterday, after long negotiations, involving Labour Relations Officer Larry Burgess, they reached an agreement.

General manager of the company Ray Beaulne said: "We're really delighted to have been able to come to a mutual agreement and address our employees' concerns.

"Our unionised employees have accepted our offer. We met with them this morning (Thursday), both parties are extremely pleased the situation has been resolved and we're looking forward to welcoming everyone back to work tomorrow," he said.

"The guys are really looking forward to getting back to their projects and serving our customers with the usual high standards of service. We'd like to thank our customers who have been very patient and understanding during this industrial action."

Mr. Beaulne said the new redundancy clause in the collective bargaining agreement was the only unresolved issue since negotiations between the company and the BIU began in March.

The workers went on strike on Monday, petitioning outside the company on Serpentine Road and bringing business to a halt.

Yesterday, The Royal Gazette reported Mr. Beaulne claiming on Wednesday night that unless an agreement was reached very soon, Universal Electric would be forced to divest current jobs that were in need of immediate service to other service providers.

The Royal Gazette was unable to reach president of the BIU Derrick Burgess last night.

Customers with queries should call Universal Electric on 292-5372.