Transport Minister Terry Lister last night defended his decision to give a fired bus worker back his job and said avoiding a showdown with unions was in the best interests of the country.“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 operators went on strike on Wednesday after an 18-year employee was fired by the Department of Public Transport (DPT).The worker lost his job after calling in sick as a driver, only to work a different shift re-fuelling buses for a colleague. The Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) argued that he should only have been suspended.As the strike continued, arbitration was invoked when Labour Minister Kim Wilson filed a Gazette Extraordinary on Thursday. Under law, industrial action should have ceased immediately for a Labour Disputes Tribunal to deal with the matter.However, the bus strike continued through yesterday morning, when drivers and other staff marched from DPT headquarters to the Transport Control Department.Commuters honked their support to the marchers, numbering about 75, who waited in the TCD parking lot until 10.15am.BIU leader Chris Furbert emerged from talks with Mr Lister and his staff to declare the fired worker had been reinstated.Originally fired for gross misconduct, the man will instead receive five weeks' suspension, a letter attached to his file, and a year's probation.And a cheer greeted the news that the Minister had also agreed for staff who on strike during the previous night would be paid from 6pm on.Mr Furbert told drivers to have buses out and running again by noon.Asked why the strike had proceeded despite Government's legally binding resort to arbitration, Mr Furbert said: “For whatever reason, I guess Government decided to go ahead without getting a third party involved.”He said if the Minister had been willing to reach a deal on Thursday, buses would have been operating at first light on Friday.And, when asked why the Union's 21-day agreement with Government not to engage in “wildcat” strikes had not applied, Mr Furbert said such warnings only applied to essential services like police and fire.Mr Lister acknowledged that “Mr Furbert was not going to talk to Ms Wilson” about the Gazette Extraordinary, and said Government had been unwilling in the end to take the matter to court.The Minister said: “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 a 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.”He said: “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.”On the issue of the fired man having had a doctor's note against working driving, Mr Lister 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.”Last night, Shadow Transport Minister Charles Swan asked: “Government departments operate differently, we all agree, but how allowable is it that what some deem a ‘minor' occurrence ends up holding the entire Island hostage?”Mr Swan said the BIU had ignored an agreement not to engage in wildcat strikes, and criticised supporters of the fired DPT worker.“To those who say that the wrongdoer in this case ‘has a family' and ‘has 18 years' service' ... some might say what was he thinking, and why?”The MP added: “The Minister might have stayed his ground. He could have made a case to the people if he's serious.”Mr Swan said Bermuda may have seen widespread strikes, “but, in these economic times, the greater good might have been served”.The end of the strike was also met with mixed feelings in Hamilton's Washington Street depot.Ken Anderson, who is visiting the Island from Ontario, said: “Yesterday was almost a complete write-off for us. We're only here for five days, so not being able to get around makes everything much more difficult.“Bermuda is already expensive without having to take a taxi everywhere.”Another passenger said: “I'm just glad it's done.“Based on what I heard, I don't think they should have gone on strike at all, but I'm glad it's done.”Jerome Dill said: “The entire thing was an inconvenience. That's all it was. I bet the taxi drivers are disappointed it's over.”