Update: BART Talks Will Resume Saturday Morning After Progress Reported on Friday

BART management and union negotiators talked until 10 p.m. Friday and will resume discussions at 9:30 a.m. today (Saturday).

Some glimmers of progress were reported in efforts to avoid a strike that could begin as early as midnight Sunday night.

BART's top executive is expected to present union officials with a new contract proposal on Saturday.

General Manager Grace Crunican joined the talks Friday for the first time since the two sides began negotiating on April 1.

Crunican is hearing concerns from union officials and is "trying to get some feedback on what it's going to take to get to a deal," BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said Friday afternoon.

"We're just listening and having a larger discussion," Trost said.

Service Employees International Union Local 1021 spokesman Des Patten said Friday's talks seemed productive and involved an informal exchange of ideas.

Patten said Crunican has asked union leaders to explain their positions and concerns and to outline details of their last proposal to her.

"She hasn't said when they might present us with anything but I would characterize it as a positive move, and hopefully it will lead to a positive end," Patten said.

Negotiators are working under a tight timeline since the unions issued a 72-hour strike notice on Thursday evening that will expire at midnight Sunday night.

BART officials have a new proposal they brought to the talks Thursday evening, but they haven't presented it yet. BART spokesman Rick Rice said the contract proposal hasn't yet been presented because the unions want to discuss other issues first.

"It's a very good offer authorized by our board," said Rice. "We're hoping they will give it a great deal of thought."

Union officials said on Friday morning that the presence of Crunican at the bargaining table, as well as what they called increased involvement from BART board members and other elected officials, are positive developments.

"We believe these developments can only help bring a resolution to these drawn-out negotiations and for this reason, we will continue bargaining through the weekend," officials with Service Employees International Union Local 1021 said in a statement.

BART management began negotiating on April 1 with SEIU Local 1021, which represents 1,430 mechanics, custodians and clerical workers, and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, which represents 945 station agents, train operators and clerical workers.

The workers previously went on strike for four and a half days at the beginning of July but returned to the bargaining table for another 30 days at the request of Gov. Jerry Brown.

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

Late Thursday night, union leaders agreed to extend the bargaining period until midnight Sunday.

If there is a strike Monday morning, no trains will be in service. Limited bus service will be available, Rice said.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report