Dockworkers Unions in Six Countries Announce Day of Strikes and Protests Against War and GenocideUnions representing workers at 40 ports in Europe and the Mediterranean are calling for an international day of action on October 30.By Sarah Lazare | July 31, 2026This article is a joint publication of Workday Magazine and In These Times.Dockworkers unions in France, Greece, Basque Country, Turkey, Morocco, and Italy are calling an international day of action "against war and militarization" on October 30. They are demanding an end to "the genocide of the Palestinian people" and the "US-Israeli wars of aggression in the Middle East and against Iran."
"Each union will decide the most appropriate form of mobilization according to its national circumstances, starting from strike action and from a shared commitment to prevent the loading of death and destruction," reads a joint statement from the unions, which was sent to Workday Magazine and In These Times on July 31.
Together, the unions represent workers at 40 ports in Europe and the Mediterranean, according to the statement. Their call for an escalation emerged from a meeting of the port workers unions held in Istanbul in May. The announcement also expresses "full solidarity with the peoples of Cuba, Venezuela and Sudan," and declares that "ports must not be used for the transport of arms, ammunition, military equipment or troops destined for war zones."
"No to the war economy, government rearmament plans, and the project of militarization of ports and strategic infrastructure from [the] EU," the unions assert in their statement. "Public resources must be used to meet people's social needs, not to finance war." Signatories include CGT FNPD in France, ENEDEP in Greece, LAB in Basque Country, LIMAN-IS in Turkey, ODT in Morocco, and ORSA Porti and USB in Italy.
Since October 2023, Palestinian trade unionists have repeatedly called on union members around the world to go on strike and refuse to handle arms shipments to Israel, to protest the latter's military campaign in Gaza, which has been denounced as a genocide by leading human rights groups and scholars. (The United States has provided crucial political and financial support to Israel.) On April 5, 2025, the General Federation of Trade Unions in Gaza appealed to unionists to "create real pressure to stop this dirty war." Dockworkers have played a spi
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