The City of Toronto and the union representing municipal inside workers are accusing one another of breaking off contract negotiations on Saturday night.

“Despite our best efforts, the union remains unwilling to move forward,” Mayor John Tory told reporters Sunday, adding that the two parties “can and should” reach an agreement that benefits both parties.

The city extended a final offer Saturday, which it says met several of the union’s demands. These include: steps toward more stable scheduling for part-time employees, access to training and development to promote gender equity in the workplace, and what Tory called a “reasonable wage increase.”

The mayor said CUPE Local 79, which represents more than 20,000 inside city workers, rejected the offer and dismissed the provincial mediator in the negotiations.

“Within hours of that offer, and without warning or explanation, CUPE Local 79 released the province’s lead mediator who has being working with our group…for the past eight days,” Tory said.

“We would welcome the mediator back,” Tory added, while asking the union to reconsider its decision.

CUPE 79 President Tim Maguire said the union did reject the offer, but that it did not break off talks or dismiss the provincial negotiator.

“(The city) issued a final offer to the mediator and indicated that there was no further movement,” Maguire said.

Maguire said CUPE rejected the city’s final proposal because it would reduce job security by creating “a two-tiered system” that doesn’t adequately protect public services from privatization.

The union head also cited a lack of concrete commitments from the city as a reason for rejecting the proposal.

The city, however, insists that the offer addresses the union’s concerns, while balancing Toronto’s financial constraints and the burden on taxpayers.

“Let me be clear. The offer we presented made significant progress (and) took significant steps forward on the key issues raised by Local 79 throughout these talks,” Tory said.

On Sunday, city staff published a copy of the offer on the city’s website, in a bid to demonstrate the mutual benefits of the proposal.

“It is time for our employees and the public to understand what is at stake and exactly what in our offer,” Tory said. “This is about being honest and open and transparent not only with our employees, but also with the public, so they can see the state of our negotiations.”

But Maguire called the move “disrespectful to the negotiating process.”

Despite talks ending on Saturday, both sides appear willing to continue negotiations.

“Local 79 is here to negotiate collective agreements, so if the city is interested in further discussion through the mediator, we’re here to do that,” Maguire said.

The mayor said the city’s negotiating team will be at the Sheraton Hotel, waiting to resume talks.

The city’s inside workers began a work-to-rule campaign on Feb. 22. It will continue into next week.

Maguire says there will be no reduction in services during the campaign. However, the workers will start taking breaks which they're entitled to, and will only do the work outlined in their job descriptions, he said.

So far, services such as city-run daycare centres have not been affected by the campaign.

On Thursday, members of CUPE Local 416, which represents the city’s outside workers, voted in favour of a deal agreed upon by their union and city officials.