Overflowing bins and litter strewn across the streets will be a reality for some residents across the north and north-east in the coming days as the strikes begin to hit.
Here is where and when strikes are happening.
The first wave of strikes is ongoing, after refuse workers who are members of Unite walked out on August 24. They have rejected a 5% pay offer from Cosla.
Workers are protesting outside waste depots in Alness, Dingwall, Kittybrewster and many more until August 31 or a pay deal is reached.
The impact of the bin strikes has already been seen in Edinburgh, where workers have been on strike since August 18.
Images of rubbish and overflowing bins have tainted the return of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with a distinct smell blanketing the city.
Another 13 council areas have followed suit, with Highlands and Aberdeen City refuse workers walking out.
It is to get worse as GMB and Unison members prepare to strike from Friday, August 26, in the Highlands, Orkney, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
Shetland, Moray and the Western Isles councils say no strikes are scheduled.
GMB and Unison members are striking from August 26 to August 29 and again from September 7 to 10.
It includes seven full days of strike action but is likely to affect services for days after as uncollected rubbish litters the streets.
September strike action will also include school and early years workers in Orkney and Aberdeenshire who are part of Unison, disrupting children’s learning.
Following on from this Unite has announced a further eight days of strike in the Highlands, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire from September 6 to 13.
In a statement Unite said strike action will spread to 20 councils and fully support their member’s fight for better jobs, pay and conditions.
‘Enough is enough’
Unison have said that their members have had enough and the feel “undervalued and underpaid”, and have been left vulnerable to food and fuel poverty as costs spiral.
Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser, said: “Workers are angry and scared – angry at the total lack of value they’ve been shown and scared about what the winter will being – and the strike actions starting tomorrow are a direct response to that political failure.
He says workers are not prepared to accept working poverty as an inevitability, even if Scotland’s political leaders are, and strikes will continue as long as necessary.
Cosla said its latest pay offer amounts to “one of, if not the best offer in decades for Scottish local government workers” with some workers getting an overall 7.36% increase.
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