In Britain, tens of thousands of nurses and EMTs launched a coordinated strike today, the largest labor action in the history of the government-run National Health Service. More strikes are planned during the week, as health workers ramp up their demands for a living wage amid the U.K.’s worst inflation in four decades. This is a striking nurse.

Ethna Vaughn: “I think we’re going to find it harder and harder to recruit, harder and harder to retain stuff. A lot of people have left the profession already because they’re so disillusioned. I think we’ve got to look to the future, and that’s what this is all about.”

The nurses’ work stoppage comes amid a wave of strikes across various sectors in the U.K.