Angry teachers say their staffing row has rumbled on far too long because of the Ministry of Education's "unwillingness to sit down and talk".

Union boss Mike Charles last night hit out at the referral of the fight to the Labour Disputes Tribunal — a move which renders any strike or industrial action unlawful.

Mr. Charles said teachers believed the matter should have been dealt with between the union and the Ministry — and that he thought progress was being made in talks this week.

Speaking after a Bermuda Union of Teachers meeting yesterday, general secretary Mr. Charles told The Royal Gazette he believed Labour Minister David Burch had called the tribunal to thwart a strike.

Asked whether teachers would obey the law and refrain from striking, he said: "Let's put it this way: the BUT will abide by the directions of the Ministry. We at least advise our members of the legal aspect of it and encourage them to abide by the law.

"I would say that the majority of people felt really aggrieved that this is what it has come to. They were angry, aggrieved about what's happened.

"More and more the Ministry seems either unwilling to sit down and discuss matters or seems to drag their heels in and be very inflexible in their dealing."

Regarding the tribunal, Mr. Charles said: "It means we have got to find someone to represent us. It also means largely the union is forbidden from taking action. That's the main function.

"As a trade union, you never want to put the situation into somebody else's hands.

"Teachers are very unhappy. Once again, the Ministry has demonstrated its lack of respect and empathy for its teachers when it will allow a simple matter like this to get to this point.

"I thought this week we were moving in the right direction. When we got this letter from the Ministry, it was a bit of a surprise really."

Sen. Burch's announcement on Wednesday came one day before the expiry of BUT's 21-day strike notice.

The 900-strong union claims the Ministry's axing of a scheme which saw substitute teachers assigned to specific schools has increased their workload by forcing them to cover extra classes every day.

Last night, Mr. Charles said problems were continuing, with one school suffering three instances of classes with no cover on Tuesday.

Asked if that meant pupils were sitting in classrooms with no teachers, Mr. Charles replied: "I would imagine that's what it means. The Ministry doesn't seem to be aware of that."

The Ministry has previously denied Mr. Charles' claims about classes going unsupervised. On that point, Mr. Charles said: "It just demonstrates the fact that they are out of touch. They are making those reports from Dundonald Street and not in personal contact with the schools.

"I'm sure that if they went around they would see that there are problems in the schools."