Employment Relations Minister Gerry Sutcliffe today praised the role of trade unions in helping to thrash-out a solution to the Federal Mogul pensions crisis.

Mr Sutcliffe, who is also MP for Bradford South, said the unions - led by Amicus - had acted as a model for others to follow by encouraging the various parties involved in the crisis to get round the negotiating table.

Amicus divisional officer Dick Croft admitted today that some workers had been ready to walk out on strike in protest at the decision to freeze the pension fund back in July.

But he said that the decision to encourage patience and negotiation had been rewarded with news that a settlement to the crisis is now close.

A final announcement on whether a rescue package for the business is acceptable to the pension fund's independent trustee is now expected within three weeks. The High Court judge who has been hearing the case has extended the deadline for a resolution to Wednesday, November 17.

Mr Croft said the union was now "cautiously optimistic" that an acceptable solution could be found to the crisis which had threatened to leave 40,000 current and former workers without all or part of their pensions.

"We are anticipating that there may be a certain amount of brinkmanship, and it could be a last-minute situation," he said.

Mr Croft said the handling of the crisis had been "a good example of what a trade union can achieve when faced with an issue like this".

The union took the unprecedented step of flying officials to New York in an effort to get US-based investors, administrators and company bosses to open negotiations.

The talks helped bring about the new offer that is now on the table and a resolution to the highly complex case involving a US-based company in administration.

"We have executed a highly responsible policy on this," he said.

"People could very easily have walked out of the factory gates after what they were put through. Members have been telephoning the company and their MPs and we have really had to quell the emotion so that, at the end of the day, we could get a better deal for them.

"I think that the trade unions will come out of this situation in a stronger position than when we went in."

Mr Sutcliffe said the actions of the unions reflected the spirit of his department's new directives on resolving crises in the workplace which stress the importance of involving workers in the process.

"It is important that companies let individuals know what is going in the commercial realities of the real world," he said.