Strike action threatened by 300 Northern Ireland NHS workers in a dispute over pay has been called off.
A spokesman for the union Unite said the Department of Health had agreed to pay back money, which its members said they were owed, in a package worth around Stg£2.5 million and covering two-and-a-half years of arrears.
Negotiators were locked in talks with the department for weeks and it took Health Minister Michael McGimpsey's intervention to avert industrial action by maintenance workers within the Health Service.
Unite regional officer Kevin McAdam said: "The department could have done this eight weeks ago. The minister reached agreement with us at the last stage so it has now resolved."
He added that workers including plumbers, electricians, fitters, joiners, painters and boilermen would receive a payout of around Stg£8,000 (€11,793).
They had threatened to walk out on Monday after accusing the department of failing to implement a recruitment and retention premium as part of a national pay agreement worth Stg£3,000 (€4,411) a year.
The members claimed they should have received the payments from October 2004. Mr McAdam added: "It is a considerable success and action was averted as a result."
PA