“Following the mediation carried out by the ministry of infrastructures and housing, ANTRAM and SNMMP today [Friday] reached an agreement in principle to dignify the working conditions of dangerous goods drivers,” the ministry said.

The statement said that the agreement in question will now be “submitted for ratification by the signatories with their respective affiliates.”

On Thursday, the leader of the union said that he issued a strike notice to be on 23 May for an open-ended period.

On Wednesday, the union announced this intention, after considering that the association violated “the principles of good faith negotiation,” adding that it would not grant the employers more time.

The announcement of the new strike came one day after the association revealed that the employer’s association and the union had agreed to a social peace pact for 30 days.

The claims included a basic salary of €1,200, a subsidy of €240 and a lower retirement age.

The union was set up at the end of last year and hit the headlines with an indefinite strike that started on 15 April whose effects prompted the government to requisition drivers to assure emergency supplies and then call in both sides to start negotiations on resolving the dispute.

With the government mediating, union and employers reached an agreement on 18 April to start formal negotiations on 29 April; the strike was also called off.