Nicola Sturgeon has said female council workers in Glasgow were "robbed of money" by the city's previous Labour administration during a long-running dispute over equal pay.
The First Minister hit out as she made a campaign visit to an east end community centre with less than one week before voters go to the polls to elect new councillors.
The SNP won power on Scotland's largest local authority at the last council elections in 2017 - but the administration has faced criticism from residents over the condition of the city during the pandemic.
Council leader Susan Aitken also had to deal with a protracted industrial dispute with refuse workers.
But Sturgeon insisted her party had delivered for Glasgow and pointed to the pay settlement in 2019 with 13,000 women.
The council paid out £505 million to end a legal challenge over an unfair pay grade system which saw some male council workers historically earn more than females.
A second equal pay claim is currently being worked out by council officials with a view to another settlement later this year.
Asked if Glasgow was a better place to live in 2022 than it was in 2017, Sturgeon said: "I think it's got lots of challenges, some of which got worse during the pandemic, but in other ways, yes I do think the city has become a better place.
"Not least because women who for years and years were - and I'm going to use this phrase deliberately - robbed of money by a Labour administration who went to court to stop them getting their equal pay entitlement.
"I think that is one of many achievements. It's not that long since we welcomed the entire world to Glasgow for COP26.
"Sometimes events like that can be useful as we see ourselves through other people's eyes.
"I was inundated with people coming from other parts of the world saying what a fantastic city Glasgow is.
"Glasgow, like all cities, has challenges to address, and the choice for people next week who is best placed to meet and address those challenges.
"I think it's Susan Aitken and the SNP administration that has been in office for the last five years."
Asked if she had faith in Aitken, the First Minister : "I have 100 per cent faith in Susan. She has done a good job in very difficult circumstances."
The original dispute centred around workers in traditionally female-dominated roles such as catering or home care being paid up to £3 an hour less than those in male-dominated jobs, such as refuse workers or grave diggers.
In 2017, two judgements at the Court of Session ruled the council's payment protection scheme - introduced when Labour held power at the City Chambers - discriminated against female workers.
Malcolm Cunning, leader of the Labour group on Glasgow City Council, said: "This is a pathetic attempt to defend the SNP’s indefensible record in Glasgow.
"It is insulting to voters to pretend things are improving when people only have to look out their window at overflowing bins or pothole-covered roads to see the reality of the SNP’s neglect towards our beautiful city.
"It is downright shameful that the First Minister would use the battle for equal pay to distract from her party’s record of failure, particularly when her administration broke their promise to fix this mess.
"These women have been completely betrayed by the SNP, who are using their plight as a political football instead of delivering a fair deal for them.
"The only part of Nicola Sturgeon’s comments that I agree with is that Glasgow is a fantastic city – and it deserves so much better than this failing SNP administration, who would rather defend their party than defend their city.”
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