Why we strike – eight workers on their reasons for joining the picket line in Britain’s new winter of discontent

Nurse Annette Heslop, barrister Saul Brody, academic Jo Edge, doctor Vassili Crispi, and postal worker Sandy Best. All photographs: Alicia Canter/The Guardian Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

The doctor: ‘Some of our colleagues are relying on food banks’

Vassili Crispi, 25, Leeds
I am originally from Italy, but came to the UK to study at medical school. I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives, and have been a junior doctor for the past year and a half.