Strikes that will close schools across Scotland are to go ahead after a union rejected a new council pay deal.
The Scottish government freed up £80m so local authority body Cosla could make the improved offer, which includes a rise of about £2,000 a year for the lowest paid.
It has been rejected by Unison, whose members will walk out on 26, 27 and 28 September in 24 council areas.
The union described the latest offer as "too little, too late".
However, the Unite and GMB unions said on Friday morning that they were suspending their planned strikes while their members were consulted on the new offer.
It means there will now not be any strikes in Falkirk or North Lanarkshire next week, while Unite and GMB members in many other areas could face the prospect of having to cross Unison picket lines.
Unite's lead negotiator Graham McNab said the latest pay offer "should have been put on the table months ago if it were not for the dithering and blundering by Cosla and Scottish government ministers" and was recommending that its members accept it.
The GMB said the new offer was "significantly better" but also questioned why it had taken Cosla so long to put it on the table, adding: "lessons should be learned from these needlessly protracted negotiations to ensure workers, parents and pupils do not endure similar uncertainty in future."
