Rrahman Jasharaj

Kosovo pupils found their classrooms empty of teachers on the first day of new school year, after the teachers' union acted on warnings to strike to force the government to increase their salaries.

The school strike adds to another strike which started last week by administrative workers in many central and local institutions.

Kosovo assembly speaker Kadri Veseli on Friday said the teaching union had agreed to call off a three-week strike over pay, after hearing that teachers' wages would go up under the draft law on salaries, which parliament was due to adopt on Saturday.

Municipal staff in the Kosovo capital, Pristina, as well as journalists from the public broadcaster, RTK, on Monday joined the wave of strikes sweping the country against the new law on wages.