NEW YORK - Work was called off at the World Trade Center site and more than 100 other sites across the city Saturday by contractors anticipating a strike of more than 3,000 heavy equipment operators.

The International Union of Operating Engineers' Local 15 wouldn't confirm a walkout Saturday, after a midnight Friday deadline passed. A union spokesman who wouldn't identify himself said no agreement had been reached with the General Contractors Association of New York, but hung up when asked if the union's 3,200 members were on strike.

Contractors shut down their sites in anticipation of a walkout, said Chris Ward, managing director of the contractors association. He said over 100 sites were affected on Saturday, including a road rehabilitation project in Queens and a sewer repair project. After the holiday weekend, more than 1,000 sites could be affected, he said.

Spokesmen for trade center projects, including foundation work on the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, said they called off their Saturday work anticipating a worker strike.

Other work that had been scheduled included preparatory work for a $2 billion planned transit hub at the site and excavation of land where three office towers will eventually be built.

Talks with the workers, including crane operators and workers who operate drilling rigs, backhoes and compressors, broke down Thursday morning.

No dates have been set for new talks.

Ward said earlier that the operating engineers, who make up to $82 an hour, rejected an offer of 6 percent salary increases each year over five years and a plan to retrain existing machinery operators whose jobs are no longer necessary because of new technology.