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Women in Glasgow will march from Glasgow Green to George Square today to begin a two-day strike in their fight to achieve pay justice.

Around 8,000 school staff, nursery workers, care workers, caterers and cleaners – the majority of them UNISON and GMB members – will walk out in the largest equal pay strike since the Equal Pay Act was passed.

The strike will affect schools, nurseries, home care, cleaning and catering across the city.

Mandy McDowall, UNISON’s regional organiser, said: “It is a modern-day scandal that forty years on from the equal pay act being introduced we find ourselves standing alongside thousands of women who are being discriminated against by one of the UK’s largest councils.

(Image: Lucinda Cameron/PA Wire)

“These women are the lifeblood of Glasgow, they carry out vital roles across the city – cleaning, caring, educating and looking after some of the most vulnerable people in our society. They are the cogs that keep our city turning yet their roles remain chronically undervalued. Strike action isn’t a decision these women have taken lightly but after months of empty promises they have been left with no choice.

“Glasgow City Council has to get back around the negotiating table and finally put an end to this long-standing injustice.”

Thousands of female workers are proceeding with equal pay claims against the council which the GMB union estimates could be worth £1 billion, following a Court of Session ruling last year.

When the SNP were voted into power in the city at the last council elections, ending decades of Labour rule, they vowed to negotiate a settlement for the women and committed to making an offer this December.

However, negotiations have broken down amid claims from the unions that no progress has been made.

The march today is to demand the city council get back around the negotiating table and put an end to this longstanding pay dispute once and for all. There will be hundreds of picket lines across the city.

UNISON Glasgow chair Mary Dawson added: “We have given the council 10 months to make progress on addressing the historical discrimination suffered by these workers.

“However, the council has agreed nothing, offered nothing and all we have had are meetings about meetings and talks about talks. It’s time for some action.”

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: "The council is committed to resolving equal pay. We want all parties back around the negotiating table in good faith; ready to deliver for our workforce and their members.

"In the meantime, we are planning ahead to try and minimise the disruption to services during the industrial action - and focusing our resources on the most critical services and vulnerable users."