Pink slips: for 22,000, that's what Mayor Bill de Blasio says he will be forced to hand out by October unless a big bail out comes through.

"Every single agency will have to save a lot of money, and generally that will take the form of layoffs," de Blasio said Wednesday during a press briefing at City Hall. 

For months, de Blasio has pinned his hopes on a federal bail out to help the city plug a multi-billion dollar budget hole brought on by the COVID-19 crisis. But now, the mayor says he believes that option is unlikely, so he's pushing forward with a different proposal to request borrowing authority from Albany and get a much needed infusion of cash to the city coffers.

"We all hoped and prayed there'd be a stimulus – that appears to be dead now," de Blasio said. "We're going to Albany to ask for appropriate long-term borrowing capacity that would stave off the layoffs."

In the meantime, de Blasio is also asking the city's labor unions to find savings in their contracts, an accounting maneuver which, if successful, could help the city find much-needed funds. 

But leaders of the Municipal Labor Council, an umbrella organization which represents several of the city's unions, say city workers have kept the city running through the crisis and layoffs should be considered as a last resort. 

"My workers have been getting this virus," said Harry Nespoli, president of the Sanitation Workers Union. "Now the city is saying guess what, 'Good job. We have it almost under control, but guess what. We're going to lay you off now.'"

Nespoli also represents the Sanitation Workers Union, which has worked out deals with de Blasio in recent years, but now he says the city is asking unions to cut back on benefits that are essential to their workers. 

"I wish the city of New York would give us a heads up on this thing. I think that's a disgrace. Do I think the layoffs are real? Yes, they're real," Nespoli said. 

The mayor says otherwise. He's been asking unions to find savings.

"It's not new to them. We've been in constant conversations with the biggest unions that represent the vast majority of the workers, and everyone takes it very, very seriously. So our job is to find savings," de Blasio said. 

Budget watchdogs say labor and City Hall should target health care costs first.

"The city pays the full premium for employees, retirees and their families. It's a deal that no other New Yorker in the private sector has," said Maria Doulis, vice-president at the Citizens Budget Commission. "Getting together around items like that can preserve jobs for public workers and preserve services for New Yorkers in general."

The mayor is facing a budgetary crisis, in part, of his own making.

Propelled by a booming economy, de Blasio grew the budget at a faster clip than previous mayors. He also went on a hiring spree. But the days of prosperity have come to a halt and now the working people he championed when he first took office could be the first to bear the brunt.

Henry Garrido, executive director of District Council 37 — the city's largest municipal employees union which represents 125,000 members and nearly 50,000 retirees — said the city should be working to protect essential workers. 

"Throughout this pandemic, city employees, our front line heroes, have put their lives on the line to provide essential services. The threat of 22,000 layoffs is not a way to repay them for their heroic acts," Garrido said. 

De Blasio says cuts will be spread out across all agencies. 

Sources tell NY1 City Hall's budget team has told agencies their budgets need to be cut specifically by reducing the workforce and this week, City Hall sent out a manual to all agencies outlining that procedure. A copy, which was obtained by NY1, shows the guide lays out a roadmap on how to effect mass layoffs when and if that option becomes inevitable.

"In the public sector, layoffs typically effect employees who are most junior and essentially what will happen is the mayor will be laying off workers he hired during his administration," Doulis said.