BART trains still rolling as labor talks continue Talks to continue through weekend as unions give 72-hour strike notice

President Business Agent for ATU 1555 Antonette Bryant listens to a reporter's question in front of the Caltrans offices where BART contract negotiations are ongoing on Oct. 10, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. President Business Agent for ATU 1555 Antonette Bryant listens to a reporter's question in front of the Caltrans offices where BART contract negotiations are ongoing on Oct. 10, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. Photo: Mathew Sumner, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Mathew Sumner, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close BART trains still rolling as labor talks continue 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

(10-11) 00:25 PDT OAKLAND -- BART trains will continue to roll Friday while negotiators for the transit agency and its two largest unions remain at the bargaining table trying to reach a new contract that would avoid a strike.

The unions announced late Thursday that they would not walk off the job - yet - despite the end of the 60-day cooling-off period that Gov. Jerry Brown ordered in August to head off a strike. However, they did issue a 72-hour notice that if an accord is not reached by midnight Sunday, they will go on strike first thing Monday morning.

Leaders of both sides of the negotiations emerged at about 11:45 p.m. from the Caltrans building in downtown Oakland where they had been holding talks and said they would end talking for the night but come back at 10 a.m. Friday to resume their sessions.

"Tonight we have had two significant changes at the BART negotiation table," said Roxanne Sanchez, president of SEIU Local 1021. Once the talks resume Friday, she said, negotiators "will remain there until an agreement has been reached."

Thomas Hock, chief negotiator for BART, kept his remarks brief. "We'll be back here at 10 a.m.," he said.

Among the significant changes cited by Sanchez were the involvement of two BART directors she did not name and a group of East Bay elected leaders, and the promise that BART General Manager Grace Crunican will come to the bargaining table Friday.

BART and its unions had been meeting over the bargaining table for much of Thursday in a last-minute effort to keep the train system running.

Although the 60-day cooling-off period was set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, neither side would say throughout the day whether members of the transit agency's biggest unions would walk off the job when the clock ran out.

"We'll see what happens when we get there," Antonette Bryant, head of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 which represents train operators and station agents, said as the evening drew toward midnight. Commuters "should be prepared, but we're doing everything we can to reach a deal."

Crunican, BART's general manager, was at the bargaining sessions Thursday night as the unions have been demanding for months.

"It's important, because she has the authority to agree to a bargain," said Chris Finn, a member of the transit workers' negotiating team.

There was very little information on negotiation details coming out of the talks Thursday.

"As long as we're talking, we're making progress," said Hock. "We're not going to be walking out of the negotiations."

While union officials have said in the past that they would give Bay Area commuters advance warning before any walkout, they declined to make any guarantees early Thursday.

"That still has to be discussed," Finn said.

If workers do strike, the BART Board of Directors authorized the agency to spend up to $400,000 a day to provide transbay charter bus service.

A second strike would create chaos on Bay Area roads and bridges on a much larger scale than the gridlock seen during the July Fourth holiday week when the unions walked off the job for 4 1/2 days.

"This is where the rubber meets the road; we have less than 15 hours to get things done," Bryant said Thursday morning before bargaining began. She said they were "this close to reaching a deal" before BART withdrew its proposal the day before.

BART and its unions had spent most of Wednesday bargaining behind closed doors. But by late Wednesday evening, the unions said the transit agency had "pulled the rug from underneath the unions" when it rescinded its latest offer.

BART spokesman Jim Allison said that was untrue, explaining there was a "misunderstanding" on the part of the mediator and no proposal was withdrawn.

Hock, BART's negotiator, said Thursday afternoon he was authorized to present a new contract offer to the unions.

It was unclear how far apart the two sides were.

A federal negotiator working with both sides had urged BART and its unions to not discuss bargaining details publicly. Last week the two sides reached a partial agreement on pension contributions, but still could not agree on the major issues of raises and health care contributions.