Thousands of employees will gather in front of government buildings today at noon to call for higher wages and the end of austerity measures.

This is expected to be the first in a wave of strikes.

University lectures will mostly be cancelled. Some libraries, theatres and archives will be closed and parliament will not meet today. Public broadcaster RTV Slovenia will also limit its coverage of political news.

The government has said the strike demands are excessive, estimating them at almost one billion euros.