Thousands of Glasgow council workers are set to strike over a long standing equal pay dispute.

A ballot of nearly 3,000 school learning support workers, school administration workers, early years nursery workers and other education staff returned a 90 per cent vote to take strike action.

A staggering 99 per cent of home carers, school cleaners, catering workers and other staff employed by Cordia also voted for strike action.

The move comes after 10 years of campaigning by women workers who were found to be earning less than men in similar jobs.

Carol Ball, UNISON Glasgow Chair, said: “This is a fantastic show of strength by an overwhelmingly female workforce who have been treated disgracefully for years. They are now standing up and fighting back.

"We have given the council ten months to make progress on addressing the historical discrimination suffered by these workers. However the council has agreed nothing. Offered nothing. All we have had are meetings about meetings and talks about talks. It’s time for some action.

"Our 5,000 UNISON members will now move towards strike action, and we will co-ordinate that action with our sisters and brothers in the GMB trade union.”

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “The union has asked its members to back strike action on the basis of a schedule of negotiations it not only agreed but signed up to on their behalf.

“The Council has committed to make an offer in December, which it will do, and we are committed to discuss the component parts of that offer prior to that.

“The union also knows full well that strike action cannot possibly make this process move any faster. Putting vulnerable people at risk by calling a strike which cannot change the timescale claimants agreed to cannot be justified.”