The teachers are owed some $7.9 billion for the period April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2009.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Jamaica Teachers' Association's (JTA) general council on the weekend during which the teachers also threatened to disrupt school activities in the upcoming school year if the payments were not honoured.

"The smooth running of school dictates that there is a whole range of things that must happen between now and September. If teachers are feeling that they are not being treated with respect or having their concerns dealt with, then we can't promise that it's going to be business as usual," president of the JTA, Doran Dixon, told The Gleaner yesterday.

"Business as usual would seem to suggest a smooth run-up to the opening of school and we are not going to be able to commit to that," he warned.

Just two months ago, the Government faced similar threats. However, in a last-minute attempt to prevent any disruption in school activities, it offered teachers a revised schedule for payments that were due in April. Half of those payments should have been made in May and the other half is due in July.

The payments owed to the teachers are part of a wage agreement which the Government signed last October to bring teachers' salaries within 80 per cent of the market rate of remuneration.

The money should have been paid in three payments between December 2008 and June 2009.

Dixon said that while there has been dialogue with both the education minister, Andrew Holness, and minister of state in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Senator Arthur Williams, about the June payments, the talks to date have not been fruitful.

"We really want something to happen because the point we keep making is that, whereas everybody else is still on to this seven per cent (increase), our position is more dire because this money that we are talking about is due to us from 2007," Dixon said.