Hartford - State union leaders asked Gov. Dannel P. Malloy Tuesday to reopen talks for a labor concessions deal to avoid laying off roughly 6,500 workers.

The request by the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition to "reconvene discussions" follows the failed ratification last month of a savings and concessions agreement with the administration that would have netted the state $1.6 billion over two years and guaranteed no union layoffs for four years.

Union members voted down the agreement, prompting Malloy to begin the process of laying off thousands of state workers to rebalance the budget. Unions have until Aug. 31 to reach a deal with the administration before the bulk of the layoffs are expected to take effect.

Malloy has so far refused to restart formal renegotiations with the 15 state unions representing 45,000 workers, but has said he is open to "clarification" of the failed agreement, such as tweaking its language to alleviate any confusion among the rank-and-file. Unions leader have pointed to confusion and misinformation as reasons for the vote's failure.

Spokesmen for the bargaining coalition gave few details Tuesday about the type of new agreement that they hope to obtain from the governor.

"I can't tell you what it looks like, but I can tell you what it doesn't look like," said coalition spokesman Matt O'Connor. "It doesn't include layoffs, it doesn't include contracting out, it doesn't include taking away workers' rights. At this point, that's what hopefully the reconvened talks will produce."

The coalition's request was hand-delivered to Malloy late Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, the leaders met to finalize the results of last month's failed ratification vote and discuss how to proceed.

"The path forward is one where both sides are talking," O'Connor told reporters.

Malloy's spokeswoman, Colleen Flanagan, issued the following statement in response to the union leaders' request: "The governor has said all along he's happy to clarify the language of the agreement if that will allow it to be ratified."

The concessions agreement needed affirmative votes from 14 of 15 unions and 80 percent of voting members. It failed because only 11 unions and 57 percent of union members voted for it.

In addition to its no-layoffs pledge, the agreement called for a two-year pay freeze followed by three years of 3 percent pay increases. It also raised the retirement age for newer workers and introduced higher co-pays for health insurance, along with a new program requiring preventative care for the lower pay rates.

The union coalition is considering changes to its bylaws that would loosen voting requirements for future labor agreements. Those changes would not apply to last month's vote.

The first set of layoff notices went out late last week to workers at the Bergin Correctional Institute in Mansfield, which is to close by mid-August.

j.reindl@theday.com