The city's largest municipal public employee union is asking the mayor to hold contract spending flat and cut waste instead of laying off workers.

District Council 37 and elected officials discussed in Downtown Manhattan on Friday Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to lay off city workers while raising spending on outside contracts by $600 million.

They also called for a review of the contracts the city currently has, and said more work could be done by city workers instead of contractors.

"If we are cutting services and cutting benefits, isn't it time that we also cut contractors, many of which are earning more than $400,000 a year for consulting services that could be done here in-house for less than $100,000?" said DC 37 Associate Director Henry Garrido. "Isn't it time for us to look at this policy and say, 'This just doesn't make sense?'"

Union leaders said they are willing to fight for their rights, comparing the situation to recent protests in Wisconsin.

A bill that would strip union workers of bargaining rights passed through the Wisconsin state Assembly on Friday.