Teachers have notified the Education Department that they will no longer work without their required lunch break.

Bermuda Union of Teachers president Michael Charles yesterday told The Royal Gazette some middle school teachers have been working close to four hours without a break and getting as little as 20 minutes for lunch under the reformed system.

Clearly fed-up, teachers on Tuesday night voted to follow the terms of the old collective agreement which states that a teacher is entitled to a minimum of 45 minutes for lunch at least four times a week.

The agreement -- which expired last August but is expected to be observed until a new one is reached -- also specifies that those who are on lunch duty should have a 30-minute break either before or after that.

"This has not been happening,'' Mr. Charles said. "At the middle schools particularly they have cut down teachers' lunch period to 40 minutes and at some schools it has been cut to 20 minutes because they (teachers) had to sit with the students until they finished eating.

"Teachers have decided they have done enough and the Ministry does not want to reciprocate.'' As a result a letter was believed to have been delivered to Education Permanent Secretary Marion Robinson yesterday pointing out the section of the agreement pertaining to teachers' hours.

Should the Education Ministry decide to ignore the letter, Mr. Charles said, teachers will "go ahead and do what they have to do''.

And, he noted, the administrators will have to find someone to watch the students. "There are not many other jobs that you have to work through your lunch hour,'' he said. "And in our case there is no lunch hour, especially at middle schools.

"It is a very stressful situation.'' Mr. Charles said one middle school teacher complained that she had to stay in her class from 8.30 a.m. to noon every day. "If they have an emergency and want to use the bathroom, they can't leave the children,'' he pointed out.

"Not every class has a teacher assistant. But even if they do, the teacher is responsible for whatever happens in his or her absence.'' While primary school teachers usually had more time for lunch than other teachers, Mr. Charles said they still had to stay in class until the children finished their lunch.

And during rainy days they had to stay in class for the duration of the lunch period, he added.