Westminster has today been urged to provide additional funding for public-sector pay deals north of the border.
The plea comes from the Scottish Government, which warns that without this extra financial support it may be unable to fund salary increases without "deep" cuts to public services.
Workers struggling to cope with the impact of rocketing inflation are seeking substantial jumps in their pay.
John Swinney has now written to Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi outlining concerns that last year's UK spending review, which determined the majority of the current Scottish budget, did not take into account the level of salary increases recently proposed by independent pay-review bodies.
In light of UK Government announcements regarding public-sector pay, the Deputy First Minister is concerned that no associated funding is being provided to meet additional costs.
Mr Swinney said: “Given our fixed budgets, our restricted borrowing powers and the inability to change tax policy in-year, the lack of additional funding for public-sector pay deals via the Barnett Formula means the Scottish Government could only replicate these pay deals for public workers in Scotland with deep cuts to public services.”
But a UK Government spokesperson said it had provided the Scottish Government with a record £41billion per year for the next three years - the highest spending review settlement since devolution.
More money for Scots
They added: "As a result, the Scottish Government is receiving around £126 per person for every £100 per person of equivalent UK Government spending in England over the next three years."
Meanwhile, one union warned yesterday that Scottish council workers have no alternative than to take "all-out" strike action which could shut schools and leave rubbish piling up.
Employees who work in education and refuse centres voted to strike after rejecting a 2% pay award.
Unite representative Eddie Cassidy said union members could not afford to accept the "measly" offer".
Local authority body Cosla said it had asked the Scottish government for more money.
Pay settlements for council workers - apart from teachers - are the responsibility of Cosla and are determined through negotiations at the Scottish Joint Committee (SJC).
Further talks are due to take place between Cosla and the joint unions today.
Walkouts
Unions have said the walkouts could happen after pupils return from the summer break in August, with hundreds of schools affected.
The strike ballot of about 25,000 council workers from the Unison, Unite and GMB unions was said to be the largest in more than a decade.
Mr Cassidy told the BBC it was apparent that the Scottish Government was not taking the issue seriously.
"The cuts to local-authority budgets have been deeper and harder in Scotland than they have in England over the past decade and that was a choice by the Scottish SNP government," he said.
"I have to agree with the first minister when she said on Friday that this was all about robbing Peter to pay Paul because she's certainly robbed local authority budgets over the past 10 years to pay somewhere else."
He said the membership had "had enough". Mr Cassidy said the Scottish Government was hiding behind the "technical fact" that it did not have front-line responsibility for local government which he said was "quite laughable".
He added: "They are the ones who have ring-fenced the vast majority of the sums of money they've given to budgets and have told local government what they can and cannot do in relation to the community tax over the past 10 years.
Crystal clear
"Cosla has made it crystal clear that it agrees with us, that the money on offer is not enough for the workforce, and the only way local government get their money is by funding from the Scottish SNP Government."
It is estimated that more than half of Scotland's 250,000 council workers earn less than £25,000 a year for a 37-hour week.
Mr Cassidy also said that members in England had been offered up to 10.5% by the UK Government.
A Cosla spokesman told the BBC that discussions with the unions would continue in order to "reach an agreement and avoid strike action.".
He added: "As employers, we have a responsibility to ensure that any pay deal offered is both sustainable and affordable and that is why we are unable to go beyond the current offer at this point.
"We are currently in discussions with the Scottish Government, and await their response to leaders' request for additional funding."
The Scottish Government said that, although it had no formal role in the national local government pay negotiations, the Government and Cosla were working to jointly explore all of the options available to find solutions.
It added: "In the meantime, the Scottish Government urges both parties to continue dialogue and seek a resolution which avoids industrial action."