Bulgarian teachers would hold on to their demand for three increases of their salaries, of 20 per cent each, before July 1 2008, chairperson of the Independent Teachers Union, Asparouh Tomov said.

The united national strike committee had asked for negotiations with Education Minister Daniel Vulchev to be continued on October 30, Bulgarian National Radio said.

The strike continued on October 30, after teachers had rejected the proposed agreement reached on October 26.

In an open letter sent to the national strike committee on October 29, Vulchev said that Cabinet would discuss on October 31 how to continue negotiations. Government would continue in dialogue to seek a solution for the situation, he said.

In the letter, Vulchev expressed the disappointment of Government that unions were not ready to sign the agreement to end the strike. According to Vulchev, representatives of unions have used the weekend to campaign against the agreement.

The leaders of the three unions had issued a new research, which should be ready on October 30, and should calculate what percentage of teachers had rejected the proposed agreement.