By STEWART PATERSON

Political Correspondent

Nicola Sturgeon said equal pay will be delivered for women council workers in Glasgow.

Speaking at the SNP annual conference in the city, she said equal pay had been denied women for too long and said the SNP would fix it.

The City Council is currently seeking leave to appeal a court ruling that it had to settle the equal pay claims that are expected to run into hundreds of millions of pounds.

Council leader, Susan Aitken, has said it does not mean the council will appeal and said she is committed to reaching agreement to settle the claims.

Ms Sturgeon has now given a commitment that equal pay will be delivered.

She said: “For years, under Labour, women were denied the equal pay they are entitled to.

“It may take us a bit of time to fix Labour’s mess, but I make this promise today. Fix it we will.

“The injustice suffered by low paid women in this city will be put right.

“Equal pay for equal work, denied for too long, will be delivered by the SNP.”

She criticised the previous Labour administration over the delays on equal pay and on the long running janitors’ strike.

She said: “For decades, Glasgow has been run by Labour. In May, that came to an end.

“The cronies and time-servers are out. Fresh ideas, Susan Aitken and the SNP are in.

“The difference is already clear. Under Labour, a bitter school janitor dispute rumbled on for months. Within weeks, it was resolved by the SNP.”

Council leader, Susan Aitken, was in the hall to hear the First Minister deliver her speech.

She said: “The City Government is pleased that she has reiterated the SNPs commitment to ending pay injustice in this city, and to have her backing for the complex task we have undertaken of undoing Labour’s years of refusal to do the right thing on equal pay.”

The total cost to the council could be several hundreds of millions of pounds and could take up to a decade to pay off, with some within the SNP at the City Chambers understood to be less than enthusiastic about paying out.

However, the First Minister’s intervention could re-focus minds on delivering on a manifesto commitment.

A source said: “The boss has now publicly backed the council leader in delivering our promise to the workers and the electorate to finally resolve this scandal we’ve inherited. If there was any ambiguity about the Glasgow City Government’s intention to fix what we said we would there isn’t now.”

Unions said the commitment was welcome but the words must be turned into action.

Brian Smith, Unison Glasgow branch secretary, said: “We recognise Labour has been at fault over this but at the moment we have the council seeking leave to appeal and the officers of the council are not exactly breaking through the gears to resolve this.

“We need the words turned into action. It is not just about the past but the future.”