A revised pay offer for teachers has been dismissed by a Falkirk trade union leader as "a campaign through press offices".
The offer was made by COSLA and the Scottish Government on Tuesday evening, offering teachers a six per cent pay rise in the current year and a further 5.5 per cent in the new financial year, which starts in April.
Teachers have been striking for 10 per cent this year.
Read more: Falkirk to take lead on developing new green freeport
Crucially for councils, the new offer comes with Scottish Government cash of £156 million to fund the two-year deal.
But the EIS, Scotland's largest teachers' union, was furious that details of the proposed deal were given to the media before the offer was formally made to teachers.
It also object to the fact that the revised offer was made without any input from the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT).
Colin Finlay, local association secretary in Falkirk EIS, attended an executive meeting today (Wednesday) to discuss the offer.
Speaking after that meeting, he said: "To be clear, this offer sums up the Government and COSLA's attitude.
"This isn’t negotiation, it’s a campaign through their press offices.
"The only positive is that it’s a tiny baby step in the right direction. The EIS has rejected both the offer and condemns the despicable tactics of the Government and COSLA.
"We urge them to make a genuine attempt to negotiate around the bargaining table.”
At the moment, strikes remain on as planned with the next national action that will affect Falkirk taking place on February 28 and March 1.
The details of a pay deal for teachers - and exactly what it will cost councils - is just one of the key pieces of information Falkirk Council needs before it sets its budget next month.
At a meeting of Falkirk Council's executive on Tuesday, members heard that there is still a great deal of uncertainty over what will happen.
Chief Finance Officer Amanda Templeman, presenting the final financial projection before the council sets its budget in March, said the picture was "slightly more positive than expected".
The ongoing teachers' strike has been a financial benefit to councils, with Falkirk saving nearly £700,000 so far on salaries.
She also said that the departments across the council have been delivering the savings they have been asked to make, although much of that has come through a recruitment freeze.
Other vacancies remain unfilled due to a lack of applicants for some jobs, which has also helped reduce costs.
The teachers' pay award is not the only area where the council faces uncertainty.
Energy bills are still very high and while there are signs that they could start to improve the situation remains volatile.
The cost of borrowing, which soared last year when interest rates shot up, also looks like it will remain high for the time being.
The improvement means that the council won't have to dip further than expected into its reserves to balance the books for the current year.
At last year's budget meeting, councillors agreed to use £5 million of reserves to balance the books but Ms Templeman said it was now looking likely they will only need to use £3.1 million.
