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The BBC's John Moylan reports on the protests in central London
Protest marches calling for pay increases for public sector workers have begun - with tens of thousands of people expected to join.
The "massive turnout" will send a strong message to the government, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) general secretary Frances O'Grady has said.
Workers are protesting about a below-inflation 1% pay offer - which the government says will safeguard jobs.
The TUC-organised rallies are being held in London, Glasgow and Belfast.
End Quote Paul Kenny GMB union general secretaryPeople are currently facing the biggest squeeze on their incomes since Victorian times"
Dave Prentis, general secretary of the Unison union, said the "best thing" the government could do was "recognise the value of the masses of people here today who have suffered and give them a pay rise".
"Our members didn't cause this recession, our members didn't cause the failures of the banks," he said.
'End the lock-out'The TUC has organised the protests under the slogan "Britain Needs a Pay Rise".
Public sector workers including teachers, nurses, civil servants and hospital workers are among those taking part, alongside rail and postal workers and others from private firms.
The TUC says average wages have fallen by £50 a week in real terms since 2008.
Ms O'Grady said: "Our message is that after the longest and deepest pay squeeze in recorded history, it's time to end the lock-out that has kept the vast majority from sharing in the economic recovery."
She said top directors were being awarded 175 times more than the average worker, while five million people were earning less than the living wage.
"If politicians wonder why so many feel excluded from the democratic process, they should start with bread and butter living standards," she said.
"An economy that finds money for tax cuts for the rich and boardroom greed, while the rest face a pay squeeze and big cuts to the welfare system - that any of us might need - is no longer working for the many."
Case study: 'My lifestyle is pressured'Mick Bowman, 56, is a mental health social worker for Northumberland County Council who lives in Newcastle and is taking part in the march in London.
"I've not had a pay rise for four years so with the cost of living rising, that's a very substantial pay cut," he said.
"At the same time my workload has increased and my job's become more stressful.
"At the end of every pay month I have to use my credit card to live on. I last had a holiday three years ago. So my lifestyle is pressured.
"I feel extremely angry about this. The national deficit was manageable and the way to deal with it is not to cut jobs and shrink the public sector.
"It's time to invest more in the public sector and get people into a position where they are able to spend more and put more money into the tax system."
'Depth of feeling'GMB union general secretary Paul Kenny said members' living standards were still falling.
"People are currently facing the biggest squeeze on their incomes since Victorian times, and wages have fallen in real terms every year since 2010," he said.
Monday's industrial action was the first strike over pay in the NHS since the 1980s - and the first time midwives had ever taken action.
Hospital radiographers and prison officers will strike in the coming week as part of the same dispute.
Cathy Warwick, the chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said the response from members showed the "depth of feeling" over the issue.
"For too long our members and their fellow workers have suffered pay freezes with income rapidly falling behind the real cost of living," she said.
"They are not asking to be paid like bankers - just a fair reward for the work they do."
Following a TUC attack on high boardroom pay on Friday, a government spokesman said: "Under this government we've seen the largest annual fall in unemployment, more people in work than ever before, and this year the first above-inflation rise in the national minimum wage since the recession.
"We appreciate that although we are now on the road to recovery, the effects of the recession are still being felt. This is why we have taken continued action to help people by cutting income tax and freezing fuel duty.
"We also want to restore the link between top pay and performance... we have introduced comprehensive reforms which give shareholders more power to hold companies to account over what they pay and why."
Are you taking part in the marches? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124. Or you can upload here.
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