The union representing most Toronto Transit Commission employees says the TTC has rejected its no-strike proposal and is sticking with its original demand.
The TTC is demanding the union give up its right to strike entirely before Queen's Park considers a bill that would make Toronto's public transit system an essential service.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 officials say they presented an offer Thursday to the TTC that would rule out a strike or lockout during this year's contract negotiations.
Any issues that aren't resolved by the March 31 contract expiry date would go to an arbitrator, the union says.
However, the TTC countered hours later with its original demand that the three unions representing employees to voluntarily declare all their members "essential workers" until the TTC revokes the status, ATU says.
In a statement, Bob Kinnear, the president of ATU Local 113, says the city's position is unreasonable because it asks the union to sign away its collective bargaining rights.
"It is an obvious attempt to denigrate the union's no-strike pledge and further pressure the provincial government to hastily pass an essential services bill without due consideration and consultation," Kinnear says.
Kinnear says the union hopes to reach an agreement or an arbitrated settlement without a work stoppage.
He says the union's no-strike pledge is still on the table.
ATU Local 113 represents about 95 per cent of the TTC's unionized work force, while the remaining workers are represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 2 and Machinists' Union Lodge 235.
