The strikes caused disruption to many schools

Councillors have agreed to up the bonus offer which they hope will settle the dispute over equal pay and job evaluation.

Letters will be sent out to staff - who mainly work in catering and cleaning - detailing their offers.

Discussions are ongoing with trade unions on the offer.

Council finance director Gordon Edwards said he hoped payments could be made by the end of May.

Better settlement

Hundreds of workers last week voted to suspend the strike action in the dispute over equal pay.

The staff agreed to await the detailed offer from their employer on back-dated bonus payments.

About 50 schools in Aberdeen were forced to close three weeks ago after the staff held a 48-hour walkout.

However, staff then agreed to suspend the next two-day stoppage.

The staff claim they are owed money because of equal pay legislation.

The council was originally proposing to give out �13.5m in retrospective pay to about 2,000 staff, claiming it was the best deal offered by any local authority in Scotland.

But the union insisted its members were due a better settlement.