Union activists are to protest at the gates of Edinburgh City Council over 2,000 job cuts.
The rally is planned as workers are invited to take voluntary redundancy in a bid to shore up its £126 million budget shortfall.
Unison and Unite have reacted angrily and it is claimed this tally could not be reached within the deadline of savings of next year.
There are concerns people will be forced out of their jobs despite the fact the council had previously said that there would be no mandatory redundancies under the current administration.
However, councillors now want 2,000 workers to leave their roles by June 2016 to cut the council’s budget shortfall.
The unions claim this is untenable.
Between 8,000 and 9,000 jobs will qualify for the voluntary redundancy packages.
A number of posts, including teachers and social workers, will be excluded.
The council’s finance and resource committee will be asked to agree a motion to sanction the redundancies next Thursday.
Unite the union will put forward a number of alternative financing proposals to the negotiation body and councillors ahead of the meeting.
It will be proposing a call for political help to secure an amnesty on the council’s repayment of pre-Scotland Act debts owed to the Public Works Loans Board - which it is claimed could release up to £96 million into the council budget over a three year period.
Mary Alexander, Unite deputy Scottish secretary said: “We are fast-approaching a critical juncture for the future of public sector services and employment across the City of Edinburgh Council.
“What we are calling for is a genuinely collaborative effort to help ensure we still have sustainable services and jobs under public ownership, while avoiding the need for compulsory redundancies.
“There is no panacea to the long and difficult road ahead of us but it shouldn’t be beyond our capabilities to consider more sustainable models of budget delivery and service provision.”
The council will also ask the Scottish Government to lift the council tax freeze and raise it by three per cent in a bid to achieve its four year savings plan.
It has been reported that more jobs could be under threat if the council tax freeze is not lifted.
John Stevenson, president of Unison, Edinburgh, said: "We do not know why the officials appear to be boxing the politicians in the direction of compulsory redundancies, because we don’t think the figures as they stand make that necessary.
“We are moving closer to compulsory redundancies and possible strike action.
"We’re going to end up with more reductions than we need because you’re going to lose two years of natural wastage and turnover."
It comes as it emerged a separate Scots council is to axe 1100 posts amid cuts and savings of near £70million.
It is part of a wider squeeze on local government finances in the coming years as further austerity-driven cuts come down the line.
The Scottish Government's own figures show councils facing a combined shortfall of £1 billion over the forthcoming two financial years.
There will be a demonstration beginning at around 9am on Thursday ahead of the meeting at the city chambers on the High Street in Edinburgh.
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