NEW YORK, Dec. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Negotiators for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) continued their negotiation Saturday in a bid to hammer out a contract following the union's three-day strike.

    The two sides are meeting under a media blackout, but word is leaking out that significant progress has been made.

    According to The Daily News, both sides say they are close to a final deal. The TWU President Roger Toussaint has scheduled a meeting of the union's executive board for Tuesday, possibly to vote on a final proposal.

    The main sticking point in the talks has been the MTA's pension demands, but it is likely that the MTA will agree to drop those demands if workers agree to cut health care costs.

    The city's 34,000 transit workers returned to their job on Friday, spelling relief for the city's 7 million commuters and bringing an end to the city's first transit strike in more than 25 years.

    On his weekly radio show, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he is glad the strike is over, but that it caused a substantial economic hardship for city residents.

    "The big losers: the public, number one, who got inconvenienced," Bloomberg said. "I think the public comported themselves well. People got together. That's what New Yorkers are all about. We shine in adversity. We pull together."

    As for calls for the city to take over the MTA, Bloomberg says that due to economic and political reasons, it does not make senseand will not happen. Enditem