The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation says high school teachers with the Durham District School Board will go on strike on Monday.

In a statement released Saturday, the union said that local negotiations have "not led to an agreement" and that high school teachers and occasional teachers with the Durham District School Board intend to walk off the job Monday.

“After about eight hours today of waiting, we received two sentences that were basically a further contract strip and so we knew we weren’t going to reach an agreement," Dave Barrowclough, president of District 13, the local teachers' union, told CP24 Saturday night.

"We thought it would be better to give parents and students and everyone as much notice as possible." 

Barrowclough says about 1,550 high school teachers and 500 occasional teachers will walk off the job Monday, a move which will affect 22 high schools in the region.

“The parties right now currently are pretty far apart on just about everything," he said.

“Until we’ve got a willing participant on the other side, there really is no point in meeting. If they want to meet with us, then we are quite happy to do so."

The school board has not yet issued any comments on the impending strike.

In an written statement sent to CP24 Saturday night, Ontario's Education Minister Liz Sandals said she is "disappointed" that local talks have broken down.

"I understand that parents and students in Durham face significant disruption as the result of a teachers' strike and I encourage both sides to return to the bargaining table," the statement said.

"The best way to avoid strikes and disruption is to reach an agreement. We are committed to staying at the central table to do that and encourage all local parties to reach negotiated local agreements."

The OSSTF announced Wednesday that it has suspended talks at the central bargaining table and has threatened to withdraw services at six other school boards including Peel, Halton, Ottawa-Carleton, Waterloo, Rainbow and Lakehead.

A notice posted on the Peel District School Board's website says the earliest Peel high school teachers could legally go on strike is April 25.