His budget director, Marc S. Ryan, said state employees had rejected concessions, despite the fact that wages have risen an average of 43 percent in eight years.

They voted last Thanksgiving to reject concessions that United had said it needed to obtain a $1.8 billion federal loan guarantee.

Shahal told them to tell Arafat that his remarks could force Israel to reject further concessions to the Palestinians, because of the effect of his statements on Israeli public opinion.

A previous round of talks fell apart this month, as negotiators for the Bosnian Government rejected concessions from the Bosnian Serbs and Croats as insufficient.

During his first stint as prime minister, Mr Clinton forced him to accept the Wye River agreement - then seen as a significant step towards peace - and so contributed to his defeat in 1999 as Likud supporters rejected concessions to Yasser Arafat.

US 'rejected Iraqi concessions'

President Aristide has rejected further concessions that would let the officers who presided over the coup rule alongside him, and so far, the Clinton Administration and the United Nations have strongly backed that position.

The mechanics at United had been rebelling against management's cutback demands, most spectacularly in a vote last November in which they rejected crucial concessions.

Prominent forces in Turkey reject further concessions to European wishes and even hold out the threat of Turkey's membership application being withdrawn.

If the votes are not counted by then, or if any group rejects concessions, the company will file for bankruptcy protection "very soon," said Bruce Hicks, a company spokesman.