High school teachers in the Peel District School Board will walk off the job in less than two weeks if a deal on a new collective agreement is not secured.

According to a statement released by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation on Tuesday morning the union is prepared to take legal strike action on May 4 should negotiations not produce an agreement.

The news comes one day after secondary school teachers with the Durham District School Board went on strike.

“Our collective agreements expired in August of 2014 and since that time our members have shown a great deal of patience despite the slow pace of bargaining. Their work both in and outside of the classroom becomes more demanding all the time, but the employer has refused to address their concerns in any meaningful way at the bargaining table,” OSSTF District 19 President Mike Bettiol said in the statement. “The school board’s approach to bargaining will have to change dramatically if they want to avoid a full withdrawal of services.”

As part of new legislation the OSSTF has been negotiating with the province at a central bargaining table while talks on more localized issues simultaneously take place between union locals and their school boards at a secondary bargaining table.

Speaking with CP24 on Tuesday, Peel District School Board Chair Janet McDougald said talks between her board and the union representing Peel teachers have actually been “moving along very well,” but she cautioned that a collective agreement will not be possible without a provincial framework being agreed upon.

“We have met with the local federation several times and we have meetings scheduled for this week and next week but this will not be resolved locally,” she said. “This is a provincial issue. The union is certainly putting pressure on us by using Peel students as a pawn — that’s clear —but a settlement will not be reached without the provincial framework being agreed upon.”

If members of OSSTF District 18 do walk off the job classes will be cancelled at 36 schools, effecting about 42,000 students.

In addition to Peel, the OSSTF has threatened to withdraw services at five other school boards, including Halton, Ottawa-Carleton, Waterloo, Rainbow and Lakehead.

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