Gov. David Paterson's call to eliminate 4 percent of the state workforce may just be a ploy to get unions to come to the bargaining table, but if the jobs are lost, the unions will have only themselves to blame.

Paterson this week said that because unions have refused to provide any counterproposals to the state's plan to cut its payroll, that nearly 9,000 jobs under control of the governor's office could be eliminated through attrition, retirement or outright layoffs.

The state had asked two of the state's biggest unions to accept a delay in pay raises, a reduction in the state's contribution to health care for retirees and to defer a week's pay until retirement, but the unions have been unwilling to negotiate.

Hiring freezes, wage freezes, salary reductions and outright layoffs are all too familiar for the millions of New Yorkers working in the private sector. They aren't moves that any employer makes lightly, but they do sometimes become a necessary means to staying afloat financially, and the state has to do the same.

Yes, cuts are painful, but they are also very necessary in this current economic mess, and the state needs to operate more like a private business than it has in the past.

The layoffs are far from a done deal, and the unions are certainly welcome to counter this proposal and agree to accept some concessions.

What we expect to hear in the coming days are announcements from the unions that Paterson's cuts will mean dire consequences for the health and safety of all New Yorkers.

Rather than waste their resources trying to get public opinion on their side, we urge the Civil Service Employees Association and the Public Employees Federation to sit down with Paterson's staff and work out an agreement that will save state taxpayers some real money.

If they fail to do so, the workers facing layoffs will have their union bosses, not the governor, to blame.