The Public Employees Federation union on Thursday sought a last-minute deal to avoid more than 3,000 layoffs the Cuomo administration plans to start in 20 days.

Cuomo wouldn’t say whether he would even consider a new contract after PEF members rejected a tentative deal on Tuesday that took months to negotiation.

“PEF has known their options for months,” said Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto. “It was and is their choice and we are moving forward.”

The tentative deal included pay freezes, although with some annual increases based on seniority, and higher employee payments for health care

“Although the governor has said he will not change the state’s proposal we remain hopeful we can reach an agreement,” said PEF President Ken Brynien. “The next few days will be critical as we try to preserve state services while meeting the savings the state requires.”

Cuomo said he needed the concessions from all the state worker unions to contend with $10 billion in deficits in the last fiscal year. That deficit has already been addressed in the budget adopted April 1, but it assumes hundreds of millions of dollars in concessions from union contracts

The administration sent layoff notices to 3,496 workers on Wednesday. The layoffs will happen unless the union approves the tentative contract in a second vote.

Cuomo made it clear that in order to avoid layoffs the union needs to approve the tentative agreement negotiated over several months and which is similar to other unions’ deals. The layoffs would save the same as the wage and benefit concessions.

But public worker unions are protected by a provision in law that continues union wages and benefits even if a contract expires. The result is that about 90 percent of the union could keep their jobs without any cut to their salaries or benefits.

“Cuomo is now left without no choice but to commence layoffs,” said E.J. McMahon of Manhattan Institute’s Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally conservative think tank.

Although local governments and fiscal conservatives sought to end the law commonly called the Triborough Amendment, the issue is well protected in Albany this spring by labor unions that are major campaign contributors and lobbyists.

On Tuesday PEF announced the contract vote was 19,629 members against the tentative contract to 16,906 for it. PEF has 56,000 mostly white-collar workers.

The Civil Service Employees Association, representing 66,000 state workers, approved a similar contract in June.

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