Council chiefs are to write to the First Minister demanding extra cash to fund a bigger pay rise for local authority workers.
Town hall umbrella group COSLA called on the SNP /Green Government to foot the bill for a “significant" increase in a bid to avert a summer of strikes.
Teachers, social care staff and refuse workers are among the groups that could strike over a 2% pay offer the trade unions believe is unsatisfactory.
The rise would be well below inflation, with critics saying it amounts to an effective pay cut.
The pressure on councils to rethink the rise is likely to intensify after ScotRail increased the pay offer to train drivers from 2.2% to 4.2%.
At a meeting of COSLA today, council leaders backed a Labour amendment which put the ball into the court of the Government for finding the extra money.
It stated: “Leaders further note the current rate of inflation at over 9%, the enhanced pay offer of 4.2% made to rail workers and the likelihood of industrial action by Local Government Trade Unions in the absence of a significantly increased pay offer.
“Leaders believe that Council workers deserve a significant pay increase and that this should be funded by the Scottish Government.
“Leaders resolve to write urgently to the First Minister and to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy in advance of the Spending Review, demanding the additional funding necessary to make such an enhanced pay offer and subsequently to seek a face to face meeting with the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary, together with representatives of the Local Government Trade Unions, to press the case for sustainable long term funding for Local Government.”
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