General strike will affect airlines on 10th December

A nationwide general strike protesting labour reforms is scheduled to take place on 10 December 2008. The strike is expected to significantly affect transportation in cities across the country. Air traffic controllers are planning to join the action at 2200 local time on 9 December, which will halt all air traffic in the country on 10 December, with the exception of emergency flights. All Olympic Airlines and Aegean Airlines flights -- both international and domestic -- have been canceled for the day; flights on other airlines have also been canceled. The unions sponsoring the strike -- GSEE and ADEDY -- will also stage a rally in front of the Parliament building in Athens at 1100 local time. Meanwhile, rioting prompted by the police shooting of a youth continued for a third consecutive night on 8-9 December. Rioters have targeted shops, banks, hotels, police stations, dumpsters and parked cars over the three-day span, throwing Molotov cocktails, rocks and torches. While the unrest began in Athens, it has spread to Thessaloniki, Patras, Trikala, Ioannina, Corfu, Samos, Crete and other locations. On 9 December, the day of the youth's funeral, protests took place at the Parliament building in Athens, where police fired tear gas at demonstrators who were attempting to break through a security cordon. Unrest is expected to continue on the night of 9 December. Government leaders have denied that they are considering the implementation of martial law to deal with the unrest.