The industrial action that hit 20 schools was stopped yesterday after the Bermuda Union of Teachers (BUT) met with Government.

At least 500 students were sent home on Wednesday and Thursday after the BUT declared industrial action over a salary dispute.

However, BUT general secretary Michael Charles confirmed that no teaching was disrupted at any of the Island?s 25 public schools yesterday.

?We had a long meeting today,? Mr. Charles said. ?I think the teachers will be pleased. Teachers don?t like to do anything other than teach.?

Mr. Charles said that teaching should remain normal until summer vacation starts at most schools on June 28.

?From where we are right now I don?t think it will be a problem starting in September,? he said. A Ministry of Education/BUT release said effective immediately the two parties had come to an agreement on the process of resolving the outstanding issue of pro-rating the salaries of certain salaries of teachers.

It said the union had removed its notice of industrial action and had committed itself to ensuring teaching would continue without disruptions.

A binding agreement was signed at a morning meeting so both parties could move forward with a clean slate and contract negotiations conducted in good faith, it said.

It said both Permanent Secretary for Education and Development Rosemary Tyrell and BUT president Lisa Trott called the industrial dispute ?unfortunate? but agreed that students should come first.