As schools, leisure centres, libraries and council services are paralysed by 24-hour industrial action on Wednesday, strikers point to a "decade of bitterness".

More than 1.2 million workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are protesting that a 3% pay offer is not enough.

Picket lines have been set up outside council offices and buildings and marches and rallies will be held in towns and cities, in an effort to win a 6% pay rise.

In Salford, near Manchester, among the many picket lines, there were 50 or 60 people standing outside the town's main rubbish depot.

We've got tremendous support from the people of Salford

Salford council worker

People on the picket line said the public was behind the unions' actions and accepted that pay for council workers lagged behind other public workers.

Bill Pope, a GMB union member, said what he was asking for was �5 an hour.

"I've recruited nearly 100 people to join the union because they are incensed with the way they have been dealt with.

"We've got the support from the public - the cars going past have beeped their horns."

John Lewis, a Unison member on the Salford picket line said his members were part of the community who used and paid for the services too.

"I think what we are seeing is a decade of bitterness from council workers who have fallen behind year after year in their pay settlement compared to other public sector workers," he said.

"What we are seeking in terms of our national employers is to take their head out of the sand - there's a massive retention and recruitment crisis in local councils."

He added that the proposed 6% pay rise reflected the fact that many council workers were lagging 6% behind other public sector workers - and that 25% of his union's membership were claiming benefit because their pay was so low.

Another colleague on the picket line in Salford said union members would continue until they reached their objective.

"We've a strong mandate from our membership to continue and we've got tremendous support from the people of Salford," he said.