As the cost of living soars some council staff could be set to go on strike "unless local government bosses increase a paltry two per cent pay offer".
GMB Scotland sent a statutory notice to COSLA chiefs on Monday, May 30 of an industrial action ballot.
The union's senior organiser Keir Greenaway said a council worker earning less than £25,000 would get "no more than a tenner a week" which he said would "turn a crisis into a catastrophe".
The ballot is being sent to its members who work in schools and early years and waste and cleansing services.
The ballot will run from Monday, June 6 until Tuesday, July 26.
The union has issued the ballot in response to COSLA's two per cent pay increase offer to Scotland's council staff.
GMB Scotland has said the offer "would equate to massive real terms pay cuts for frontline workers and disproportionately award the biggest increases to the highest earners in councils".
GMB Scotland senior organiser Keir Greenaway said: "Tens of thousands of the lowest paid staff in local government will go from the frontline of public service delivery to below the breadline unless their pay confronts soaring inflation and eye-watering energy bills.
"But instead of recognising the scale of the challenge and rising to meet it, political leaders are sleeping at the wheel and blaming each other for their inability to address it – it’s a far cry from their doorstep applause every Thursday night only two years ago.
"Let’s be clear. A pay rise of just two per cent for the workers earning under £25,000 a year is worth no more than a tenner a week. It will turn a crisis into a catastrophe for many working families and there is no trade union worth its salt that would leave that unchallenged.
"Unless COSLA comes back to the negotiating table with a vastly improved offer that reflects the fact our members are working in the biggest cost of living crisis in forty years then industrial action looks inevitable."
It is unclear how many Perth and Kinross Council workers could potentially take strike action.
When asked, a PKC spokesperson said: "Pay negotiations are carried out by COSLA at a national level and it would be inappropriate for us to comment further."
A COSLA spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "We remain in active discussion with our trade union partners."
The potential for industrial action comes following a warning from UNISON earlier this month.
UNISON, Unite and the GMB wrote to COSLA at the start of May calling for an "acceptable pay offer for local government workers whose pay has been held down for too many years".
UNISON warned local government chiefs that council employees would be willing to take industrial action over pay.
In a statement earlier this month, UNISON Scotland's head of local government Johanna Baxter said: "It’s obvious that COSLA hasn’t been considering pay as a key issue for council staff. This is poor judgement on their behalf and shows a disappointing lack of engagement.
"For too many years, pay in local government has been held down and the cost of living crisis is pushing many hard-working people into poverty."
She added: " Industrial action is always a last resort but workers are desperate to be heard."
