. >> reporter: union leaders lashed out to the at thomas hock, the negotiators. several -- out to thomas hock, the negotiator. now, two b.a.r.t. members attended talks. b.a.r.t. officials say they are bracing for monday. >> in the eept vent the unions do decide to go on strike monday morning, we have limited charter bus service and we were able to get our hands on more buses. our passengers will see more buses out of the same situation and we've added two more pickup locations at concord sand san lee an -- and san leandro. >> reporter: the board went into closed session with thomas hock. that was around 10:00. we understand they've just or thed lunch and they a while. negotiations started at 11:this morning -- 11:00 this morning. remember, we still have today and this weekend for these two sides to come together and strike a deal. but at this particular point, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. live from oakland, i'm tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> bay area elected officials sent a strong message to b.a.r.t. and its unions to consider the riding

bart's chief negotiator thomas hock. a-t-u local 15-55 president antonette bryant seen walking in as well. outside of that, we havent heard much from either side today. they've been upstairs negotiating. thomas hock says both sides know time is running out. and, that there's a lot on the line. one longtime bart train operator says he showed up today to support the unions. though, he hasn't been at the bargaining table. he says he wants a deal. but wouldn't be upset if union workers agreed to extend talks beyond tonight deadline. when i spoke to one of the union negotiators at six o'clock. i was told talks had pretty much stalled. but that there's hope. however, he added that bart workers have not thrown away their picket signs. live in oakland, philippe djegal, kron four news. >> across the bay in san francisco, kron 4's alecia reid is talking to riders about their commuting plan. alecia what are they saying? they are gearing up for what could be another strike. >> we are using more gasoline, and mileage on my truck. >>

but bart's chief negotiator, thomas hock, says the two sides did exchange proposals. deal yet, he's not losing hope. >> everyone is working hard to get it together. the unions are to appear in state aid the look negotiator thomas h o c h. >> >". progress made." both sides are scheduled to return to the bargaining table this morning at 10 a- m at the caltrans headquarters in downtown oakland. bart riders who normally bracing for a strike monday. considering several options. many will once again take a bus to west oakland, and then another bus across the bay to san francisco, if need be. be providing extra service. and many say, they will drive. no doubt making already heavy much worse. most riders are busy making plans. commuters can also hire a taxi for a pricier option. the fare from the fremont bart station to san francisco is about 110- dollars. new this morning: cucut!t! i i hahaveve no idea whats's go. mamaybybe e you're the originalo wiwithth c curly fries and. whwhy y the cowboy hat? yoyou'u'rere the barbecue chi babacocon,n, cheese, and barb. yoyou u also come

. >> if you get rid of thomas hock, who seems to be the problem, maybe we can move forward. >> hours later, bart's general manager held a press conference defending hock. >> tom hock is our negotiator, has been, will be. >> if mr. hock is not the problem, why are we hearing so many complaints about him? >> i understand that it's trying to get attention drawn to something else. trash the other side if you can. >> both sides battling out at the bargaining table and at the court of public opinion. bart's general manager said if a deal is not reached by the end of the day on sunday, there are options other than striking. she says they can't extend talks without a contract. ken. >> yeah, it's exactly what you said. who do you want to believe? how open are the unions to really sitting down and making something happen this weekend? >> you know, it sounds like they certainly want to strike a deal. when it comes to extending talks without a contract, they say that would leave them open without a contract and with no protection. but doesn't sound like that's something they will bite on. >> all

>> any slings and arrows against thomas hock is a distraction because they don't want to talk about the real issues of the labor contract which is salary, pension an benefits. >> reporter: several times they accused bart of lying to the public and tarnishing their reputation. >> you represent us. you represent the public. and if you are going to demean us in public, at least demean us with issues and facts. >> reporter: bart says they have made progress on smaller details but the unions have shown little movement on those key sticking points. >> 23% raise request and they have moved only to 2 1.5% whereas we've doubled ours so we are trying to get to the middle. we need movement from them for us to move. >> reporter: they will meet over the weekend. there is no indication they will meet that monday deadline but even if a deal is made, could the relationship between bart and its employees be repaired? >> we're a family. and at the end of the day, we have to work together. and when all this is said and done, we're still supposed to be having a relationship. this is not the way to get it d

. >> if you get rid of thomas hock, who seems to be the problem, then make we can move forward. >> hours later bart's general manager held a press conference defending hock. >> tom hock is our negotiator, has been, will be. >> if mr. hock is not the problem, why are we hearing so many complaints about him. >> i understand that it's -- it's trying to get attention drawn to something else, trash the other side, if you can. >> both sides battling out at the bargaining table and in the court of public opinion. >> now, both general managers said even if they don't reach a deal by the end of the day sunday, there are other option, including extending talks and continuing to talk even without a contract. back to you. >> yeah. christin i'm wondering just how railistic that notion is. i mean, are the unions really open to extending things sort of open ended and seeing if a deal can be worked out. >> you know, they don't really sound like it. we actually had a chance to ask them, and they said that would basically open them to working and talking without a contract. they'd have no protection whats

bart negotiator thomas hock has left. but at least one of the unions is still meeting with bart management. but so far. no progress. we begin our team coverage tonight on the looming bart strike. with kron 4's dan kerman. he brings us up to date on the negotiation efforts. >> reporter: wednesday morning the bart negotiations resumed. >> did you get any closer? >> we are trying to get this done. how >> reporter: bart management remains optimistic. >> as of right now as reasonable fair contract does not mean that it will not change before the deadline on august 4th. >> reporter: the contract negotiation expires sunday night. dan kerman, kron 4 news. >> this just in to the kron 4 news room we have a new piece of video it is an interview with one of the union leaders antoinette brian. she just said this. >> we have four days left of bargaining. of course, there should be some concern but they should understand we are doing everything to avoid that but we cannot just part of an ourselves. they must come to our table and their

that's bart's chief negotiator thomas hock. followed by his team. union members also arriving at around 11 this morning -many of them with luggage, preparing for a long night. contrary to what happened monday through friday this week. we're told the two sides are meeting face-to-face for long periods of time -- the encounters are not brief. and, that there seems to be a sense of urgency. union leader antonette bryant also went on to say that the two sides are exchanging proposals on the major issues. wages, medical and pension contributions. no word on how long tonight's bargaining session will last. live in oakland, philippe djegal, kron four news. >> the bay area council surveyed almost 500 people living in counties that bart services. 70 percent of people oppose bart workers striking. 69 percent say bart workers are not under-paid.the majority of people think fair salary. and the council estimates the impact of a bart strike costs the bay area economy 73 million dollars a day in lost worker productivity. it's worth noting that the bay area counci

. >> reporter: union leaders are pointing fingers at thomas hock for busting the union. today, the union officials are heading to the board meeting for -- to ask the board to change their tune. the two sides will work right up until the 11th hour. judging by the way things have been going, this strike will likely happen. i'm tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. >>> 7:04. once again, b.a.r.t.'s 400,000 daily riders may need another way to get to work or school monday morning. b.a.r.t. will provide limited weekway round-trip charter service across the bay at no charges. the buses between the east bay and san francisco will run during the peak commute hours. but these buses can only carry about 4,000 passengers each day in each direction. a.c. transit will provide its regular commuter bus service between the east bay and san francisco and the peninsula. it hopes to provide extra buses across the bay if there's a b.a.r.t. strike but that depends on the availability of both a.c. transit buses and drivers. many stranded passengers may hop on a boat like they did l