Teachers are pushing for parity pay with similarly qualified Government professionals.

And they say it is unfair to point to extra holidays as a reason for keeping salaries low.

Bermuda Union of Teachers President Anthony Wolffe said: “The amount of work teachers put in over and above the work time during the school year far outweighs those two months off during the summer.

“The school year was something agreed upon by all parties. Not just teachers.”

He said teachers found it difficult to make ends meet.

“It's affecting morale. In May of this we were told by the Ministry of Education they needed to fill 156 vacancies for September this year.

“Teachers are exiting the system in masses. Certainly a better salary will not only lift teacher morale but keep them in the system.

“What teachers are asking for would certainly address the issue on teacher retention.”

He said teachers were doing extra jobs to make ends meet. He said: “I go into pharmacies and supermarkets and see teachers working their after hours.

They are doing everything they have to in order to survive.”

Recently the union pointed to other Government jobs requiring Bachelor's degrees being advertised with starting salaries of $52,000, compared to teachers requiring Bachelor's degrees starting on $44-$45,000.

Mr. Wolffe said of last week's failed mediation talks: “Unfortunately Government put their mediation team in an untenable position because they knew there was no move on Government's part while we made several offers.”

Government said yesterday the Ministry has offered a three percent increase to the teachers plus a further increment to teachers entering the profession.

Government says the increase is comparable to what has been awarded in both the public and private sectors for the last four years.

In early 1990, the teachers were awarded an increase of approximately of 15 percent to create parity, said the press statement.

It continued: “Since that time, their increases have kept pace with those awarded across the community.”

BUT General Secretary Michael Charles said pay parity had not been established in the early 1990s and it certainly wasn't the case now.

He said there was a big difference between salaries awarded to teachers with five years experience and degrees and other Government employees the same qualifications and experience.

One UK expatriate teacher told The Royal Gazette: “We are getting paid more than we get at home but the rents are four time higher here. It is a struggle.”

And she said teachers worked more here than in Britain. “We do 200 days here, we do 195 in the UK.

“I want them to get it cleared up as soon as possible. None of us like going out on strike.”