The imposed deal for workers is less than the one previously rejected Scotland’s council leaders have decided to impose a three-year pay deal after a breakdown in talks with unions.
The deal, affecting about 150,000 staff, is significantly less generous than one which was recently rejected.
Cosla, which represents the 32 councils, said public sector unions had left local authority leaders in an “impossible position”.
The move will see staff receive a rise of 0.65% backdated to April, followed by pay freezes next year and in 2012.
Members of the three unions, the biggest of which is Unison, which represent most council staff earlier rejected a deal which would have given them a 1% increase this year, followed by a pay freeze next year and a 0.5% rise in 2012-13.
They had wanted a 3% pay rise this year or an increase of £600 for the lowest-paid workers.
Following a meeting of council leaders in Edinburgh, Cosla human resources spokesman Michael Cook said local authorities needed clarity over pay now to allow them to plan future budgets.
He said: “We hugely value our hard-working employees, and on this basis made them an original offer which represented the absolute extremity of what councils could afford.
“We have tried everything we could to get the unions to realise the gravity of the financial pressures we face and our determination as far as possible to protect jobs and services.
“They have left us in an impossible position by failing to recognise the interests of their members. Councils are left with no option but to withdraw that offer and impose a settlement.”
Mr Cook added: “The unions have to realise the unprecedented financial circumstances which the public sector, and local government in particular, finds itself.
“We, as employers, went the extra mile for our workforce but it was rejected by the union leadership, leaving us with no other option.”
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