Members of a Toronto union are holding a strike vote on Tuesday as contract negotiations with the city fall apart.

CUPE Local 79, which represents 23,000 inside workers, says calling the strike vote was not an easy decision, but negotiations have collapsed and the city does not appear interested in coming to an agreement.

Those divisions were evident Tuesday, as both sides accused each other of bargaining in bad faith.

"We will still meet with them, we've been trying meet with them, the difficulty is that they haven't been available," Coun. Doug Holyday told CTV News. "Since last Thursday, they met with us exactly once for 50 minutes and that's not a group that wants to make a deal."

Not so, said CUPE Local 79 president Tim Maguire.

"We had a meeting yesterday afternoon to discuss some significant issues at the bargaining table and, unfortunately, we've had few opportunities to have meaningful discussions about the key, the big issues, in this round of negotiation," Maguire told reporters.

The vote comes as both sides prepare for a deadline that makes job action legal as soon as 12.01 a.m. Saturday.

Maguire vowed that the union would not strike on the weekend unless the city tried to impose its own contact on the workers.

Maguire has said he is frustrated that the city has not budged on concessions affecting both full- and part-time city employees.

CUPE Local 79 represents the city's planners, clerks, social service employees, janitors, ambulance dispatchers, public health nurses, child care workers and court service staff, among others.

A strike or lockout will result in the closure of city daycares as well as most recreation centres and swimming pools.

Union members have been working without a contract since Dec. 31, 2011.

The union has previously accused the city of bargaining in bad faith, saying it is asking for major concessions and offering little in return.

It filed a complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board on March 13.

As one union considered job action, another remained on the picket lines on Tuesday after talks broke down over the weekend.

CUPE Local 4948, representing some 2,400 library workers, began picketing outside city hall and library locations on Monday after extending a strike deadline several times.

All 98 library branches were closed Monday. The library is asking borrowers to hold on to the books and materials they've checked out. No overdue fines will be charged during the strike.