Hartford - Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and state union leaders said Monday that they are ready to begin negotiations for a new concessions agreement that could avert thousands of layoffs and significant cuts to government services.

"It shouldn't take more than a couple of days to have a clarified agreement that's ready to be voted on by all state employees," the governor said in a statement.

The prospect of a new deal between the Malloy administration and public-sector unions is a dramatic change from last week's state of affairs, when the governor submitted his so-called Plan B for cutting $1.6 billion from the biennial budget and 6,560 state positions to make up for a concessions deal that workers voted down last month.

If Malloy and the unions representing 45,000 workers reach a new agreement that can achieve ratification, it avoids the need for most, if not all, of the planned cuts and layoffs.

The turnaround was the result of a vote Monday by leaders of the 15 state unions to amend their State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition bylaws to make it easier to change labor contracts.

The bylaws formerly required approval by no fewer than 14 unions, in addition to 80 percent of the rank-and-file vote. Under the new rules, a labor agreement can pass with support from just eight unions and 50 percent of members.

The rules apply to just future labor deals. But if the arrangement had been in effect last month, the concessions agreement that failed would have instead passed. That agreement, worth $1.6 billion in savings over two years, garnered 57 percent of the membership vote and approval from 11 unions.

Malloy ruled out renegotiations until the unions loosened the strict voting rules that doomed the deal.

"Union leaders ... are now urging the Malloy administration to sit down as soon as possible to resume discussions," union spokesman Matt O'Connor said.

Malloy, who was scheduled to return late last night from the National Governors Association meeting in Salt Lake City, said in a statement that his chief negotiator will soon meet with union leaders "to understand which issues in the agreement need to be clarified."

"Given the limited number of issues that have been identified as problematic, it shouldn't take more than a couple of days," the governor said.

The rank-and-file would then have to ratify the new agreement.

Union representatives told reporters Monday that they would like a deal similar to the one that got voted down. They also want the deal to rescind the layoffs set to take effect.

The General Assembly has set an Aug. 31 deadline for any deal to be in place. To make the deadline, the coalition plans to expedite its ratification process after it reaches an agreement with Malloy's negotiator.

"We really really need to do that because after Aug. 31, it's gonna be pretty awful," said Leo Canty, a vice president of the American Federation of Teachers - Connecticut.

One reporter asked whether the coalition anticipates negative reaction from members for "changing the rules after the game is over."

In response, O'Connor said union leaders believe their members appreciate the democratic principles of majority rule that are now represented in the bylaws.

"We've heard a range of opinions," he said, "and I think the important thing to point out is that the leaders of our unions spent time hearing from rank and file union members."

Malloy's alternative plan, unveiled in detail last Friday, calls for spending cuts at nearly all levels of state government and roughly 4,300 actual layoffs after counting retirements and position vacancies. It shutters five DMV branches, cuts sports and arts at state technical high schools, ends ferry services, closes bathrooms at non-plaza highway rest areas, and reduces eligibility for some social services such as Medicaid, among other cutbacks.

"So the governor acknowledging that those talks are going to continue is good news not just for the members of our unions, but is good news for everyone," O'Connor said.

Union officials declined to say the tally of Monday's vote on amending the bylaws, but said the change required support from at least 10 union leaders. For the vote to be valid, union leaders decided to suspend a technical rule that requires 30 days' written notice before a vote can be taken to change the bylaws. Canty said the leaders voted unanimously to suspend the rule "a couple weeks ago."

The Malloy administration has issued at least 1,000 layoff notices to state workers since July 1. It's uncertain whether the administration will agree to rescind the layoffs of state corrections officers at the Bergin Correctional Institution in Mansfield and Enfield Correctional Institution.

The governor has said that those two prisons are closing due to Connecticut's falling inmate population and not because of this year's budget crunch.

The Senate's President Donald Williams, D-Brooklyn, and Majority Leader Martin Looney, D-New Haven, issued a joint statement that called Monday's developments "Connecticut's last - and best - chance to resolve its fiscal crisis without undermining its recovery."

House Speaker Christopher Donovan said he thanks union leaders for changing their bylaws "in a way that respects the opinion of a majority of state employees."

"This is the responsible course of action as we look to avoid the terrible cuts and layoffs that would do so much harm to our state," Donovan added.

Negotiators will have to decide what to do about contractual pay raises for state workers that went into effect July 1.

Union officials told reporters that most state workers received the raises, with the exception of a handful of bargaining units and a union of University of Connecticut Health Center workers. The pay raises vary in size by contract.

The failed concessions agreement promised no union layoffs for four years in exchange for a two-year pay freeze. Three years of subsequent 3 percent raises were to follow.

Workers would have seen increases to health insurance co-pays and higher retirement ages under the agreement. It also mandated a controversial preventative care regimen for workers to obtain lower pay rates.

j.reindl@theday.com