Update: No Strike Yet As BART, Unions Will Talk Through The Weekend

There's no strike, but there's no agreement yet either.

Union negotiators announced at 11:45 p.m. Thursday that they would continue to negotiate with BART management through the weekend.

However, union leaders said if there was no new contract agreed upon by midnight Sunday, there was a possibility the transit agency employees would go on strike at that time.

The two sides will resume negotiations behind closed doors at 10 a.m. Friday.

On Thursday afternoon, BART management said they had brought a new proposal to the table as talks resumed with union negotiators.

BART spokesman Rick Rice told Patch the proposal would be different than what was being offered on Wednesday, but he would not provide any details.

He said the transit agency is still guardedly optimistic a settlement would be reached soon.

"We're still hopeful and we're still working hard at it," he said.

Leah Berlanga, a spokeswoman for Service Employees International Union Local 1021, which represents 1,430 mechanics, custodians and clerical workers, told Patch at 3 p.m. they were waiting for the talks to resume, but she expected them to start soon.

Berlanga did not want to comment on the possibility of a settlement tonight.

On Thursday morning, BART management negotiators briefed the transit agency's board of directors on the contract talks.

Cecille Isidro, another SEIU spokeswoman, said union leaders hope that BART General Manager Grace Crunican will participate in the contract talks.

"We need to reach an agreement as soon as possible and she needs to be at the table," Isidro said.

Crunican previously has said she doesn't need to be at the bargaining table because BART's negotiators know what management's position is.

BART management began negotiating with SEIU Local 1021 and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, which represents 945 station agents, train operators and clerical workers, on April 1.

The workers previously went on strike for four and a half days at the beginning of July but finally agreed to Gov. Jerry Brown's request that they return to the bargaining table for another 30 days.

When the second round of talks failed, Brown asked for a 60-day cooling-off period, and that period ends at midnight Thursday.

Union leaders said Monday evening that they weren't ready to give their customary 72-hour strike notice but also said they were keeping all of their options on the table, including going on strike. The notice is a courtesy but is not mandatory.

According to BART spokesman Jim Allison, the transit agency and the unions remain split on issues such as wages and employees' contributions to health care and pension costs.

SEIU Local 1021 and ATU Local 1555 said in a joint statement Wednesday night that BART negotiators "pulled the rug from underneath the unions as well as the entire Bay Area" by withdrawing an offer that had brought the parties close to an agreement.

But Allison said "any suggestion that BART offered a proposal and withdrew it is categorically untrue" and blamed the confusion on "a miscommunication that wasn't on BART's part."

Bay City News Service contributed to this report