"Why would a company refuse to even talk to someone willing to make a serious offer?" he asked.
According to several people close to the discussions, the Bronfman group has already raised enough money -- $3 billion to $4 billion -- to make a serious offer.
"We will meet again on Monday but it remains extremely difficult to see how next week's strike can be avoided unless management are prepared to make a serious offer to attempt to resolve this dispute".
The tension surrounding the talks and the potential for a shutdown boiled into public view Friday evening as House Republican leaders issued a series of harsh statements accusing Democrats of failing to make a serious offer on spending cuts.
Mr. Bush has been under rising criticism -- from South Korea, China, Russia and most recently his presumptive Democratic opponent, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts -- for failing to make a serious offer to the North Koreans since coming into office.
One, Ronald Sander, was killed in January 2001 after the kidnappers decided that representatives of the three ransom-negotiating firms and four governments involved had taken too long to make a serious offer.
