More than 400 posts will go at Scotland's largest local authority to help meet the national target of freezing council tax for the following year, sparking fears of further job cuts across the country.

Despite additional cash from the Scottish Government to meet the costs of the freeze, Glasgow City Council has confirmed that it is looking to shed 1.5% of its staff, which equates to around 425 employees.

But the move has generated concern among unions over the potential loss of thousands of jobs across Scotland to accommodate the wish of the government to keep council tax at 2007/2008 levels.

Areas targeted for staff reduction include the education department, where 124 teaching posts will go mostly as a result of school closures and mergers, direct and care services, where numbers will be trimmed by 150, and land and environmental services, where 116 jobs will be cut.

Glasgow has claimed there will not be compulsory redundancies and that most of the posts will go through natural wastage, early retirements and potentially voluntary redundancies.

The council has also claimed that efficiency savings over the last two years have resulted in the need for fewer staff in certain areas. But two of Scotland's leading unions have raised the spectre of Glasgow leading the way in redundancies to balance the books.

Alex McLuckie, GMB Scotland's senior organiser, said: "Our concern is the impact these proposals will have on jobs first within Glasgow and potentially the rest of Scotland. The council try to sanitise the situation by describing the impact as a 1.5% movement in posts. Our first action will be to minimise the effect these proposals have on jobs and to ensure that workers in Glasgow City Council are not made compulsorily redundant as a result of this budget. Workers' jobs will not be the price of this settlement."

Mike Kirby, Unison's Glasgow organiser, added: "We'll need to see the impact of zero council tax being applied across the country but if the biggest council can't manage to balance the books without significant job losses other councils may well be in similar difficulties."

A spokesman for the council said: "There will be no compulsory redundancies as a result of this budget.

"It is through efficiency savings and service reforms that we can freeze council tax levels and the reduction in staff will be achieved largely through natural wastage."

Glasgow has kept its council tax levels the same for the previous two years.

Glasgow City Treasurer Stephen Curran described this year's financial settlement as "tight, with a poorer increase than last year and the average of the last four years".

He added: "This administration paid for the council tax freeze. We paid it from efficiencies achieved through strong leadership and good governance that we can now, again, pass on to the people of Glasgow."

SNP MSP and Glasgow councillor Bill Kidd welcomed the freeze and said local authorities had received an above inflation increase in their budget despite a tight financial package from the UK Government. But he added: "The decision to cut staff numbers was made by the Labour administration on Glasgow City Council, any attempt to blame the government is ridiculous."

Yesterday, West Lothian also signalled its intention to keep council tax at its current rate for the next year and was aiming to maintain this until 2011, with a Band D property paying £1128-a-year. But it will be forced to make £6m in efficiency savings. East Lothian is also aiming to keep the current level until 2011, with a Band D property paying £1117-per-year.