Politicians at Holyrood and council headquarters have been blamed by workers for a series of strikes that are set to sweep Scotland.
Waste collection staff will down tools on Thursday in Edinburgh in the first wave of industrial action that will soon roll-out across the country.
Bins will go uncollected in the Capital at the height of the festival season after trade unions flatly refused the latest 3.5 per cent pay offer from COSLA, the body that represents town hall bosses.
Unite members in Edinburgh will be the first to walk out with workers represented by Unison and the GMB following next week.
Unite regional officer Wendy Dunsmore said: "We have the pathetic spectacle of COSLA and the Scottish Government doing a hokey-cokey dance as they blame each other for the unacceptable pay offer.
"The fact is both of them are equally to blame. Our members are fed-up with this politicking because all they want is an offer put on the table which reflects their hard work, and helps them deal with the cost of living crisis hurting families across Scotland.”
Ian Urquhart, one of the refuse workers who will strike in Edinburgh, told the Record he blamed politicians at council and Holyrood level for failing to reach an agreement on pay.
He said: "Why has it taken COSLA five months to make their latest offer of 3.5 per cent when they know council workers are totally fed-up - and we would have no option but to take a stand against poverty pay?
"This situation has been deliberately created by politicians in council chambers and in the Scottish Government.
"They are fighting with each other as part of a blame game to score cheap political points while none of them are taking responsibility and doing what needs to be done to sort this out.
"Some of my work mates are on wages as low as £18,000 a year and what’s been offered represents a massive wage cut with energy bills soaring and the cost of living going through the roof."
Unison members voted overwhelmingly earlier this week to continue with their strike plans at councils across Scotland.
Waste and recycling workers will walk out between August 26 and 29 as well as between September 7 and 10.
Members of GMB Scotland’s local government committee have also rejected the offer and warned that strikes will be unavoidable unless a “significantly improved offer” is urgently tabled.
Unison members in Aberdeenshire, Clackmannanshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Stirling and South Lanarkshire have said they will walk out.
Authorities where GMB members have said they will strike are Aberdeen, Angus, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, Falkirk, Glasgow, Inverclyde, Highland, Midlothian, Orkney, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian, Perth and Kinross, and North Lanarkshire.
GMB Scotland senior organiser Keir Greenaway said: “Friday’s offer has been totally rejected by our workplace reps in local government and no-one at Cosla or the Scottish Government should be surprised.
“Bluntly, it’s a pathetic response from political leaders to a cost-of-living crisis that’s turning into a catastrophe for many frontline workers and their families.
“Unless a significantly improved offer is urgently tabled, the strike dates already confirmed for later this month will be unavoidable, and notices for further actions will almost certainly follow as we head into autumn.”
