NEW YORK, NY November 16, 2009 —As New York State lawmakers return for another extraordinary session on the state budget, angry union members from New York City plan to be there. WNYC's Amy Eddings has more.

REPORTER: District Council 37, the city's largest municipal employees' union, is still smarting from the layoffs last week of 530 school aides.

Union officials say Governor Paterson's plan to make midyear cuts to education - including a $223 million slice from New York City's piece of the pie - could mean more job losses. They're also against the governor's cuts to health care funding, calling them a threat to, quote, "vital patient services, including community clinics".

DC 37 says it and other unions are bussing hundreds of members to Albany to urge lawmakers to say no. Governor Paterson has said he doesn't know how the deficit can be reduced without cutting education and health care spending, since it makes up 55 percent of the budget. For WNYC, I'm Amy Eddings.