Glasgow City Council has decided to call halt to its long running court battle with unions and staff over equal pay.

An emergency committee meeting was called to make a decision ahead of a deadline for notice to appeal to the UK Supreme Court.

All four parties on the council agreed to the motion by SNP council leader, Susan Aitken, not to appeal and instead continue talks with the claimants to seek a solution.

No figure has been put on the potential pay-outs the council could be liable for but a figure into the hundreds of millions of pounds is expected and the timescale is predicted to run into 2019 at the earliest.

Unions and campaigners were pleased with the decision of the council and hoped it will now lead to justice for the women who have fought for years for equal pay with men doing similar jobs.

Ms Aitken said “I am pleased that I have been able to lead the Council to this decision to end the current legal action on equal pay and instead focus on resolving this decade long dispute through negotiation.

“This council under the previous Labour administration was involved in litigation for over a decade. “The new City Government has today led on drawing a line under that. Instead we will seek a resolution through on-going negotiation.”

The council has set out a schedule of fortnightly meetings with the Action 4 Equality group and representative from Unison and GMB for the rest of this year.

Ms Aitken said she did not expect the process would last much longer than that.

She added: “These talks will be complex and our teams will need time to fully conclude them but today’s decision is the breakthrough we needed to progress in good faith. “We need to send a strong message to our lower paid female employees that we value the crucial work that you do, and we believe you should be paid equally for it compared to other doing similar work.”

Labour backed the move and defended its record on equal pay stating while in power it spent hundreds of millions on settlements.

Frank McAveety, Labour Group leader, said "Glasgow Labour has always been committed to equal pay for equal work. This has been a long-standing issue, with no simple answers. Over the last ten years, Labour in Glasgow City Council spent £600m to address historic inequalities in the council workforce.

"Reaching an agreed settlement will take time. Throughout that process, Labour will continue to ensure that there are no job losses, that no-one becomes poorer as a result, and for the fair deal our City deserves from the Scottish Government."

The Tories backed the move but had concerns about the cost and warned the bill could be £500m and would need to be met by Glasgow taxpayers.

David Meikle, Conservative group leader, said: “Labour spent ten years fighting against paying low paid women what they are entitled to but now the SNP must deliver on the promises they made during the election.”

Green Councillor Allan Young said: “We now need to get everyone around the table for a fresh start in industrial relations. Central to this should be a strong focus on ending any current, and preventing any future, gender pay inequalities."

Dozens of GMB and Unison members demonstrated outside the meeting at the City Chambers and several were present during the committee hearing.

Union leaders said it was the start of reaching agreed settlement for the thousands of women.

Carol Ball of Unison’s Glasgow branch said: “This is a great day for the low paid cleaners, carers, caterers and others working for Glasgow City Council who have waited ten years for pay equality. A great day, but just the first day in the process of moving to equality – because settlement takes time.

“Our members have waited long enough for the fair and equal pay they have worked hard for and deserve.”

Frances Stojilkovic, a Cordia worker and one of the lead campaigners in the fight for equal pay, said: “This is absolutely brilliant, we are so excited.

“I feel like I haven’t drawn breath for the past four weeks but we finally have the right decision and the council has seen sense.

“We were very nervous beforehand but the council has done the right thing with a unanimous vote.

“We’re still keeping going, the fight is not over.”

Stefan Cross QC, of Action 4 Equality (Scotland), added: “Ten years ago Glasgow council bosses told us this day would never come, but the Court of Session judgment shows that A4ES was right all along.

“So this is really is marvellous news.