A ROW over the decade long equal pay dispute broke out at the City Chambers as the SNP got its budget through

Council leader Susan Aitken and a succession of SNP councillors attacked Labour for its role in the dispute.

Ms Aitken said Labour had “sat on its hands” while she and the SNP has resolved the dispute.

She revealed that more than half of the £41m spending gap was down to cash being used to fund the equal pay settlement and said that had there been no equal pay Bill there would be no need for cuts this year.

Ms Aitken called for two senior Labour councillors to resign – blaming them for the equal pay crisis.

She said it was her and the SNP administration who had “stood up” for the thousands of female workers who had not been paid the same as their male colleagues for more than a decade.

She stated that the former leader, councillor Frank McAveety and ex-depute leader councillor Archie Graham should step-down for not settling the dispute when they were in power.

SNP councillor Annette Christie also compared the equal pay dispute to domestic abuse and refused to withdraw her comments when asked by labour.

Following the meeting Mr McAveety said “he would not be going anywhere” and accused Ms Aitken of “grandstanding”.

He also said he would speak to the Standard’s Commissioner if his party weren’t happy with how the comments by Ms Christie were dealt with.

Speaking at the meeting Ms Aitken said: “Labour did not believe that these women were as valuable as the male workforce.

“Labour was not prepared to pay the price of equality. Former leader and depute leader councillor Frank McAveety and councillor Archie Graham should be resigning from their senior position.

“The SNP did it, [sorted equal pay] I did it, that is standing up for Glasgow.”

City treasurer Allan Gow added: “More than £500 million will be awarded to these staff which should have already been in the purses and wallets of families making their life better.

“Now it can be, due to the SNP. I know all parties have backed the settlement but I am in no doubt that without the drive and enthusiasm of our leader Susan Aitken we would not be here today.”

Mr McAveety said that labour had voted to resolve the equal pay dispute in 2006 but this was met with legal implications.

Speaking after the meeting he said: “It is worth re-stating every time that all the parties in the chamber in 2006 voted for the pay and benefit structure.

“All parties in the council supported the changes to address the issue of the legal ruling.

“We were acting on all the advice from senior officers that was available at the time in a similar way that she [councillor Aitken] has acted.

“I will not be going anywhere. Instead of grandstanding on this perhaps she should be putting in a bit more effort in getting a fairer deal for these women.”

“The labour group are extremely disappointed that an SNP member tried to throw an illusion of domestic violence on the debate round equal pay.

“It was really disappointing, she was then asked offered the chance to withdraw the remark and she chose not to.

“I will raise that matter directly with the SNP and if we are not satisfied with the response we may have to go to the Standard’s Commissioner to resolve this as it lacks respect.”

The plans include a 3% council tax rise, less frequent bin collections and additional charges on concert tickets, car parking and hall hires.

Mr Gow said it was a budget that involved difficult decisions but which invested in the future of communities.

He said : “I have sought throughout to minimize the impact on communities and frontline services.

“Community facilities have been protected and there will be no compulsory redundancies.”

The plan to save £41m included cost cutting in some areas.

Bins that are collected every two weeks will now be collected every three weeks, a move which sparked anger from Labour and Tory councillors.

Labour said the SNP had failed to challenge the Scottish Government for more money for the city.