Teachers voted unanimously last night to accept large pay increases which will see a novice teacher add nearly $20,000 to their salary after four years in the job.

It ends labour unrest which saw two days of shut schools as well as a work to rule.

The agreement also achieves the Bermuda Union of Teachers? goal of reaching pay parity with civil servants ? but only at the upper level.

General Secretary Mike Charles (pictured) said: ?Teachers seem to be quite upbeat about these proposals today.

?We were able to sell it to them.?

Overall teachers get a 3.4 percent rise from September this year and 3.0 percent from September, 2005.

But a grading jump will see the rise worth much more to teachers who stick in the profession.

An inexperienced teacher joining before the award would have started on $51,000 but that will increase to $55,500 in the next year, then jump to more than 59,339 before hitting $69,448 as the grading jump kicks in.

Mr. Charles said he hoped it would keep teachers in the profession. ?It will go some way to recognising what teachers do and hopefully keep them there in the job.?

A teacher with five years experience with a BA degree currently gets $67,679 but will now get $70,530 and by the end of the new deal will be on $75,115.

However the union is not satisfied yet and will be pushing for higher salaries for entry-level teachers. Teachers were given two options by Government. However only one was put to the hundreds of teachers gathered at St. Paul?s Church Hall.

Mr. Charles explained the rejected formula required teachers put in an extra 14 days work a year to be split between instruction and staff development.

?There wasn?t really very much difference in the money value,? said Mr. Charles.

Under the new deal auxiliary staff will also get rises of 3.5 percent, 3.4 percent and 3.0 percent while job descriptions will also be worked on. The formula follows days of gruelling discussions. Negotiations ran from 6 p.m. on Thursday to 2.30 a.m. on Friday and resumed at 1 p.m on Friday and ran until midnight. They started again on Sunday at 2 p.m. and went on until close to 10 p.m as Government handed over two proposals which the teachers agreed to consider.

Mr. Charles said: ?There wasn?t much talking ? 90 percent of the time was spent waiting for answers. ?We had a brief period on Thursday evening when both sides were together in the room.?

But once the teachers had rehashed where they stood the teams spent most of the time in different rooms at the Labour and Training Office on Reid Street as the Government side went over the figures, said Mr. Charles. The Government team was represented by Chief Education Officer Dr. Joseph Christopher, Senior Human Resources manager Dawn Ray and Comptroller Crystal Smith.

The teachers side consisted of seven or eight people while Gary Philips, Edwin Wilson and Derrick Burgess acted as co-mediators. Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Randolph Horton (pictured) said: ?I am grateful to the members of the mediation team who worked tirelessly with representatives of both the BUT and the Ministry of Education and Development throughout the weekend in an effort to resolve this matter.

?I was extremely pleased, therefore, to learn earlier this evening that the BUT and the Ministry of Education and Development have agreed a new contract for teachers.

?Now, our schools will return to normalcy. Now, the educational experience of our children will continue uninterrupted.

?I again register my thanks to all of those who contributed to the resolution process, including the BUT, the Ministry of Education and Development and the mediation team.

?It is my hope that the way forward will be characterised by professionalism, mutual respect and good will.?