Employees of a soon-to-be-shuttered Novartis plant near Nyon in the canton of Vaud have begun strike action, scheduled to last one day.

Workers union Unia says employees are picketing the Nyon community hall demanding that alternatives to the plant closure be seriously considered.

Strikers also want company CEO Joe Jimenez to meet with them.

A union spokesman said Jimenez had yet to reply to the invitation by late on Tuesday.

Last month Novartis announced that 2,000 jobs would be cut world-wide, with more than half in Switzerland.

The Nyon site employs more than 300 people.