Teachers are set to begin work to rule action today in anger over months of fruitless pay talks.

And last night Bermuda Union of Teachers General Secretary Mike Charles accused Government of playing games and disrespecting teachers.

He said: ?Teachers will work to rule, that?s what teachers will be engaged in this week.

?They won?t engage in anything outside their teaching duties. We have not set a time limit on it.?

Their last pay deal expired on August 31 last year.

?We have been talking now for about nine months,? said Mr. Charles. ?We wrote a letter to the Ministry asking to start negotiations in April last year.

?It?s kept going on and on. It?s May and we have been talking since September ? that?s nine months, all this time working together and all of a sudden they come up with something totally out of the blue. It seems like they are playing games with us.

?We agree to do something, we do it and then they come up with something else.?

He said both sides had agreed to come up with a formula to grade jobs similar to those in the the Civil Service.

?Having first accepted the findings they then wanted to make changes. That?s where the problem really lies ? at the last hurdle the Ministry broke ranks.

?Teachers are totally upset. We go back to the same kind of things when we last had industrial action. The same lack of respect. That?s what?s caused this whole problem.?

But he said the teachers are still at the table and further talks were planned for Thursday. Mr. Charles stressed teachers were eager for a quick settlement as end-of-year tests were looming.

Last night Education Minister Terry Lister appealed for teachers to think again and return to the negotiating table.

He said: ?At the end of the day the teachers want to get a fair position and the Ministry want them to get a fair position.

?There is no agreement there at this point.

?At this stage I am not aware of what action the teachers are planning. Obviously there has been a breakdown in the talks. That?s extremely disappointing.

?They have reached a point where they have given notice they will be taking industrial action.?

He said although teachers had been working without an agreement for months it didn?t been the issue had been ignored and he said both sides had been working diligently to come to a solution.

?I think if you speak to anyone on either side they will say a lot of time has been spent trying to come to a consensus,? the Minister said.

?While it?s disappointing talks have broken down I respect and appreciate the time and effort put in all round.

?I have been given an indication that action will happen sometime this week. I don?t know which days or which schools. That?s up to the union to decide and notify us.

?I will expect to get a report tomorrow.?

In 2002 teachers went on a strike and were then given an average seven percent pay hike by a Government arbitration panel as they tried to reach parity with other Government professionals. But the union had said there was still some way to go until teachers got parity. Currently a new teacher starts off on a salary of about $51,000 a year.