The Bermuda Union of Teachers has accused Government of reneging on a pay formula as the work to rule in Government schools continues into its fourth day.

However, Government says the union is pushing for a 20-percent pay rise after getting up to eight percent more last year.

Instead, Government has offered 3.2 percent backdated pay for last year and another three percent in the next two years.

Union General Secretary Mike Charles said after 20 meetings held between autumn last year and April this year a formula linking teachers' pay to certain civil servants grades had been worked out.

The deal would have seen graduate teachers with two years' experience get more than $65,000 a year, up from $54,093, while those with five years' experience would have got more than $70,000.

The package, passed by the joint grading panel which comprised the union and Government, linked teachers' pay with civil servants graded at PS 27 to PS 29 levels.

But Mr. Charles said at the last moment Government said it should be paid pro rata with 15 percent knocked off to reflect their long holidays.

"What the ministry wanted to do was give us 85 percent of that. We felt the ministry reneged," said Mr. Charles who stressed teachers had fallen behind other Government professionals over the years.

He said Government had stressed the union should abide by the panel's decision but had then brought up pro rating out of nowhere.

This was despite both parties agreeing to be upfront with their agendas from the beginning in a process known as interest-based bargaining, said Mr. Charles.

"We had workshops run by Arlene Brock who has considerable experience and we decided to do it."

He said to find a way of comparing pay to civil servants it had been agreed to work out a job description which went through 12 drafts before Government and the union agreed.

But he said after 20 meetings and Government urging the union to abide by whatever the joint grading panel Government had then moved the goalposts.

"If they had pro rating on their minds they never put it on the table until the results came back from the joint grading panel on April 29. That has brought us to where we are now."

He said two arbitration panels ? one in 1991 and one two years ago ? had rejected a pro rata pay deal for teachers.

It was impossible to quantify hours teachers worked outside teaching lessons said Mr. Charles. "We don't punch the clock, different people do different times."

Education Minister Terry Lister said his side's language had been imprecise and admitted the word pro rata had never come up until the end.

He said the Education department team had invited the union team to decide how the salary rise should be handled once the grading had been decided.

He said: "There is a two-step process, but the union believes it is a one-step process."

Simply tying the teachers' rate to a particular grade of civil servant could not work because of all the holiday teachers had, he said. Teachers only work 200 days.

Talking about the P3 grade teachers he said: "They asked for $11,000 more. At that point talks broke down. That's 20 percent. That might be seen by some as unreasonable."

Mr. Charles said Government had hinted about arbitration but had been told it would have to remove the threat hanging over teachers who had their names taken by principals for taking industrial action.

"Any other union, with a threat to members like that, would have walked. I don't know what the ministry was thinking. You don't threaten people like that."

However he said the union's executive had rejected the idea of arbitration as pointless because two arbitration panels had ruled out Government's idea of pro rata pay.

A routine weekly meeting between the ministry and the union was set to be cancelled today because Chief Education Officer Joseph Christopher will be in the St. George's Prep appeal (see brief, Page 6).

However both sides expressed a willingness to talk.

Mr. Charles said: "We are ready to talk. It's up to them. If they see fit to do something we are always ready to talk."

And Mr. Lister said given the impasse he was hopeful he and Permanent Secretary Michelle Khaldun could fill in.

"It's an indication of how seriously we view this for Bermuda in general and teachers in particular."

He repeated concern that the Terra Nova tests affecting P3-P6 students, middle school students and the first two years of senior schools were being missed.

However Mr. Charles said too much was being made of the Terra Nova tests being missed this week.

He said the Association of School Principals had actually been close to boycotting the tests after Government announced exam rule relaxations, such has illiterate children having questions read to them, would be removed.

He said a letter had been delivered to the Ministry last week but a last-minute meeting staved off that threat.

"The test was in jeopardy already. Now teachers are being blamed for everything."

The test, which is normally held over three half days, is for the education department to compare how children were doing compared to American children and had no effects on a child's grade, graduation or school career said Mr. Charles.

"Actually the results are not even used by teachers for what they teach next time. It's not as if the children are being losers ? losers for what?

"They are being taught, they are not missing any classes, teachers are teaching, they are not missing any teaching time or learning time."

He said there was no rush to take the Terra Nova tests. "It's been done in June before so if not done now, it can be done later."

Mr. Lister admitted principals had raised concerns about changes on the eve of the test but the concerns had been ironed out. "The process was healthy, what's unhealthy was that it was late." He said teachers and pupils had prepared hard for the exam.

Salary box

A graduate teacher with two years' experience currently earns $54,093

Under the BUT formula that teacher would earn $65,525

Government proposed paying $57,478 in 2003/04