Hartford - Union leaders will make no changes to the strict bylaws that would alter the outcome of last week's failed vote on contract concessions, labor spokesmen announced Friday.

However, leaders of the 15 state unions are willing to consider changes to the bylaws that would apply to future agreements - opening the possibility of a new deal with the governor to replace the one that union members voted down.

But it is unclear whether the governor is willing to give the unions a second chance.

Nevertheless, the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition plans to submit an alternative proposal to the governor Tuesday that would aim at avoiding the roughly 6,500 layoffs that could result if no agreement happens.

"What this [proposal] is I am not exactly sure - there are a lot of possibilities," Matt O'Connor, a coalition spokesman, said Friday. "The leaders still believe that they can reach an agreement with the Malloy administration that would avert the layoffs and make it unnecessary to contract out services or restrict workers' rights to negotiate."

The existing agreement, forged in May between the governor's administration and the union coalition, was to produce $1.6 billion in savings over two years. But it did not receive affirmative votes from the necessary 14 of 15 unions and 80 percent of voting members to pass; only 11 unions and 57 percent supported it.

State officials say they're preparing to lay off 5,466 workers to make up for the failed agreement. An additional 1,000 layoffs is also now possible after the General Assembly chose Thursday to preserve $54 million in annual aid to municipalities at the purported cost of more layoffs.

Coalition members had briefly considered changing their bylaws in a way that might allow the failed agreement to pass. But on Friday they adopted a resolution to not make any retroactive adjustments that would affect the outcome of the vote already taken. They did agree to consider changes to the bylaws for future agreements.

Colleen Flanagan, spokeswoman for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, said Friday that the governor is not willing to re-enter formal negotiations with the unions for a new labor agreement. But he is willing to make some changes to the language of the existing one.

"If the agreement that was reached in May needs to be clarified, the governor is happy to do it," Flanagan said.

On the question of what exactly the governor means by "clarified," Malloy's senior adviser Roy Occhiogrosso told reporters this week that a clarification could simplify parts of the agreement that have generated confusion among some rank-and-file union members, such as the proposed value-based health care plan.

However, "the substance of the deal would not change" under a clarification, Occhiogrosso said.

The state Senate passed a bill Thursday that would cap state workers' longevity payments and end the practice of counting overtime in calculating their pensions, excluding those perks from collective-bargaining contracts. House leaders decided against taking up the bill, but said their members could pass it later this summer if necessary.

The bill was suggested by Malloy to help rebalance the state's new budget without a concessions deal.

O'Connor, the union coalition spokesman, said the legislature's delay was "a real show of confidence on the part of House leaders that we'll work this out."

j.reindl@theday.com