Teachers who strike again today will be breaking the law after Labour Minister Terry Lister referred their dispute to mandatory arbitration.

Earlier teachers voted to continue yesterday's Island-wide strikes over pay which stopped education for around 6,000 schoolchildren at nearly 40 schools.

Asked if teachers would be prepared to break the law by striking today Bermuda Union of Teachers President Anthony Wolffe said last night: "That's entirely up to them."

He said the union had no opportunity to meet with members and tell them of Mr. Lister's action.Government said it was in the dark about the union's plans today so schools will be kept open until further notice.

Mr. Lister said the BUT executive rejected an offer of voluntary arbitration yesterday afternoon so he ordered a trade disputes tribunal to be set up - an action he said made further teacher action unlawful under the Trade Disputes Act.

Teachers ended last week's mediation with Government saying the talks were a waste of time.

Mr Lister said: "I am not unsympathetic to the teachers' concerns.

"The referral to the Trade Disputes Act was the only viable avenue available to me once the offer of voluntary arbitration had been rejected.

"We must get our children back in the classrooms without delay which is our principal concern at this time.

"We will use the arbitration process to allow the parties to make a further effort to present their cases before an award is made."

Mr. Wolffe said the BUT were disappointed Government hadn't accepted the union's offer.

He said: "We accepted in part what the Ministry of Education were after with a view to the matter also going to a board of inquiry. But that was outright rejected."

Mr. Wolffe said teachers would be meeting again today at St. Paul's AME church at 11 a.m. for an update.

Asked if teachers would then head back to work he said: "The membership makes such decisions."

Last night Government urged parents to monitor early morning radio bulletins to find out the latest developments.

Acting Education Minister Randolph Horton said: "We have not had an formal notification from the BUT with regard to strike action.

"However, they stated earlier today they would `definitely inform the parents about what was happening'."

"The Ministry of Education has directed the principals that schools will be opened tomorrow as occurred today. However, we are advising parents to stay tuned to the media for updates.

"Steps are being taken to reach a resolution and keep parents informed.

"Unfortunately the BUT has not been forthcoming with its plans and so we are unable to say at this juncture whether there will be more industrial action."

Yesterday more than 600 teachers had packed a meeting at St. Paul's AME church and voted unanimously to "carry on action until we get our just due" said BUT General Secretary Michael Charles.

He said: "It's usual in mediation He said: "It's usual in mediation that both sides come to a common understanding but Government never budged an iota.

"It seems like the idea of mediation was to get us to come to Government's way of thinking."

He thanked parents for their support and promised to inform them of teachers' next actions.

He said: "We want to make sure parents know exactly what is happening so they are inconvenienced as little as possible."

"Teachers are resolute. They will continue to do what it takes to get a liveable wage.

"I think there were ten abstentions. Out of 600 people there were no nays."

Bermuda Employers' Council executive director Andrea Mowbray said the big banks and companies with a lot of female staff had been badly hit by yesterday's strike.

She said: "It looks like it's on for tomorrow as well.

"We have had a few calls from larger members. They are not sure what to do if they have a lot of staff out. Do they count it as a sick day or a vacation day or not record it?

"We have been advising them to keep staff paid if they possibly can. It's not their fault. But I don't know what to say. There's not much you can do.

"The big companies have struggled a little bit but I would imagine it has hit everybody. If no-one can take care of their children parents have to stay at home."

Government said it alerted the radio channels after finding out about the strike yesterday morning and only 43 students tried to show up for lessons. Twenty teachers were on duty, said a Government press release.

Shadow Education Minister Tim Smith said: "News of an island-wide teachers' strike should come as no surprise.

"Their strike action today represents a significant cry for help.

"Their pleas for help, requests for assistance and need for more pay have largely been ignored by the government.

"If rumours of the pay offer by the government are true then I believe the teachers are entirely warranted in taking the action they have. If the government continues to ignore their cries for help then it will only have itself to blame if the exodus of teachers from the profession continues. The only silver lining we saw today was that the Bermuda Union of Teachers gave advance notice - albeit short - of their intended action. "

"Let's hope that parents and employers can be afforded this courtesy in the future. Having said that, students, parents and employers would prefer to see a resolution.

"The continued interruption in education in the public system is causing many parents to move their children to private schools.

"This government had promised to reverse this trend but its actions have done little but exacerbate teacher frustrations."