Trying desperately to pull itself back from the brink of bankruptcy, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government proposed Friday that salaries for all 180,000 city employees be cut 4 percent for three years starting in fiscal 2000.

The salary cuts, the largest proposed by any municipality in the country, are expected to cut spending by about 90 billion yen.

During a meeting with leaders of the municipal employees union, Gov. Shintaro Ishihara called for their understanding, saying that the pay cut is necessary to gain Tokyo residents' consent for proposed cuts in social and welfare programs.

If the cuts are implemented, a 30-year-old employee at the managerial level would lose about 395,000 yen a year.

"Employees are also Tokyo citizens," Ishihara said. "(Metropolitan government employees) need to think about what is going on outside the office."

"The benefits and security enjoyed by employees here are unimaginable at private-sector companies," he added, referring to the nation's unemployment problems.

The metro government further proposed that bonuses from the end of fiscal 1999 to fiscal 2001 be cut by 10.5 percent to save the city approximately 120 billion yen, bringing total savings to 210 billion yen. The city had originally planned to forgo employee bonuses altogether at the end of the current fiscal year but opted for a more gradual cut.

Union leaders still balked at the proposal.

"Who is responsible for the financial crisis in the first place?" demanded Ken Yasawa, head of the 87,000-member union's executive committee, saying that the union cannot accept salary cuts unless responsibility for the fiscal mess is clarified.

The Tokyo government is facing an annual revenue shortfall of 600 billion yen to 700 billion yen through fiscal 2000, metropolitan government officials said. The city is studying further cuts at the managerial level.

Yasawa rejected both parts of the proposal, which will be submitted again for approval by all Tokyo government employees.