This week tens of thousands of workers joined Britain's biggest rail strike in 30 years. Some 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union voted to walk out on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in a dispute over pay and conditions that will cause disruption for millions of passengers.
Here one rail worker explains why he took the decision to take industrial action.
Steve Shaw, 52, from Wigan, has worked as a train guard for Northern Trains since 1994 and earns around £30,000 a year. An RMT rep, he was on the picket lines outside Wigan Wallgate and Wigan North Western stations on Tuesday.
