WOMEN in Glasgow were robbed of millions of hours through equal pay a union leader has said.

At a fringe meeting at the Labour Scottish Conference the party was criticised by unions for failing women for decades in the equal pay dispute.

Hazel Nolan of GMB Scotland said women workers were going to work every day and were being discriminated against every day.

She said: “That was under a Labour administration.”

Ms Nolan said the potential bill for settling claims could be as much as £500m.

She said: “That equates to 16million hours.

“That’s hours they will never get back. Some have passed away, that is hours with their family they will never have.”

Hayley Johnson of solicitors Thomson’s, who have been dealing with many case said it was allowed to happen because work done by women was not given the same value as men.

She said: “Roles that were predominantly seen as women’s work were undervalued. Carers were valued less than road workers or gardeners.

Part time not seen as valuable as full time and 76% of part time workers are women.

She said: “For too long it has been cloak and dagger over what people are paid. It is not transparent.”

The SNP administration at Glasgow City Council announced it was abandoning the years of fighting the equal pay claims through the courts and was moving to settlement of claims through negotiation.