Opposition councillors have called on the Scottish Government to increase funding to help struggling council workers on the brink of strike action.
On Friday deputy first minister - and Perthshire North MSP - John Swinney announced an extra £140 million of funding to help make an improved pay offer to council workers.
But the leaders of Perth and Kinross Council's two largest opposition groups believe the offer is not enough to stop strikes which could potentially close local schools.
Thousands of council workers across Scotland rejected the two per cent pay increase offer and voted for industrial action.
Tayside Contracts staff in Perth and Kinross schools - who are members of Unite - are among those who could walk out. Tayside Contracts provides catering, cleaning, janitorial and school crossing patrol services to Perth and Kinross Council's schools.
A Tayside Contracts spokesperson said: "Only one of our recognised Trade Unions, Unite, achieved a mandate to call for industrial action. Unite has not yet advised us of when they intend calling for industrial action or what the nature of that action will be."
Last month a PKC spokesperson confirmed its own staff had not balloted to strike.
Union leaders say the cost of living crisis is leaving some council workers struggling to make ends meet. The current UK rate of inflation is 9.4 per cent and is forecast to rise to 13 per cent later this year.
In May GMB Scotland's senior organiser Keir Greenaway called for the two per cent pay offer to be "vastly improved" to avoid turning a "crisis into a catastrophe".
He said: "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."
He added: "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."
On Friday the Scottish Government pledged further funding which is thought would equate to another 1.5 per cent amounting to a 3.5 per cent increase in total.
Announcing the additional £140 million Mr Swinney - who has stepped in as finance secretary while Kate Forbes is on maternity leave - said stumping up the extra cash would mean the Scottish Government "making financial sacrifices".
He said: "It involves us changing programmes and changing timetables for programmes, but we recognise that we've got to work with local authorities to put forward an improved settlement offer for council staff."
But PKC's Conservative group leader John Duff and Lib Dem group leader Peter Barrett think councils need more to achieve a pay settlement.
The Daily Record reported that at a COSLA meeting in June council leaders voted to make a revised pay increase offer of five per cent "contingent on additional funding being provided by the Scottish Government ".
This week Highland Perthshire councillor John Duff told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "The continual underfunding of councils over many years by the Scottish Government - despite record UK Government budget allocations - is at the heart of this matter. Local authorities are already facing significant budget deficits and we have been told by the SNP Government that our budgets will be further cut with no prospect of any increase for the next five years.
"The additional £140million - while welcome - is likely to be insufficient to resolve this situation and will probably result in industrial action becoming a reality. Unless the Scottish Government ups its offer by quite some margin, unfortunately, the final pay settlement may only be affordable through job losses and cuts to services."
Perth City Centre councillor Peter Barrett is the Scottish Liberal Democrats' leader on COSLA and Lib Dem spokesperson for local government.
He said: "Councils have offered council workers a five per cent pay rise subject to the Scottish Government funding. Councils cannot afford more than two per cent without cutting jobs and services even harder. Perth and Kinross Council is already facing a black hole in its budget for next year of £24m.
"We urgently need the Scottish Government to provide the additional three per cent which amounts to £280m. Last week the Scottish Government offered COSLA £140m - just half of what is needed to bridge the gap. That will create a £3m shortfall in PKC’s budget for this year alone.
"The Scottish Government must do more and must do it quickly if we are to avoid strikes and a crisis of school closures.
"Council leaders are meeting on Friday to consider the Scottish Government's response. We need the Scottish Government to make a big move on funding in the next few days. They have to act."
A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson said: "We are aware of the outcomes of the ballots for industrial action and are continuing to monitor the situation.
"Pay negotiations are the responsibility of COSLA and they are meeting again this week."
COSLA confirmed talks were ongoing.
A COSLA spokesperson said: "We held constructive discussions with Scottish Government last week. Leaders met virtually on Friday and at this meeting agreed that they needed further information.
"Given the importance of a pay award for our workforce, council leaders wanted to seek further clarification from both the Scottish Government and the UK Government and will reconvene this week to further consider this matter."
Following last Friday's meeting UNISON Scotland's head of local government Johanna Baxter said: "It is simply unacceptable that four months after we should have had an agreed pay rise for council workers, COSLA and the Scottish Government are still scrabbling about for further information. Inflation is projected to be as high as 13 per cent and local government staff still only have two per cent on the table.
"The cost of living crisis is hitting people now. They have had months to sort this out."
