Workers in more than 20 Mediterranean ports are preparing for an international day of action on 6 February to oppose the growing militarization of transport infrastructure, as well as port management’s and governments’ complicity in the genocide in Gaza. “If we don’t take this step, all our other demands will be crushed under war,” Francesco Staccioli of the Italian union Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) warned during a launch event on Tuesday.
The mobilization aims to prevent arms shipments, reject rearmament, and oppose the impact of a war economy on workers’ rights and social security systems. Notably, the day of action is being launched to “ensure that European and Mediterranean ports are places of peace, free from any involvement in war,” according to an earlier announcement.
The process leading up to the day of action began years ago and gained momentum since 2023, when a growing number of dockworkers started taking action against arms shipments to the Israeli occupation. Next week, many of the workers involved in those earlier initiatives will join coordinated mobilizations in ports across Greece, the Basque Country, Morocco, Turkey, and Italy. At least ten Italian ports have already confirmed their participation, reflecting both last year’s hugely successful general strikes for Palestine and organized resistance to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s rearmament agenda—but also the workers’ local demands.
Representatives from USB’s Sea and Ports chapter emphasized that the ongoing—and overlapping—mobilizations against genocide, militarization, and US imperialism are inseparable from labor struggles. In this context, they spoke of an “internal war” as well as an external one, pointing to increasingly repressive measures adopted by European governments against workers who participate in acts of solidarity. They cited, in particular, Italian firefighters who have faced reprisals for participating in demonstrations against genocide.
The link between the militarization of society and the deterioration of living conditions for the working class was a recurring theme throughout the launch event. Dockworkers from Mersin in Turkey and Piraeus in Greece stressed that the situation is worsening by the day and can only be challenged through coordinated, internationalist resistance. If port workers stand together, trade unionists from Piraeus said, “ports can become a barrier to war, not corridors for weapons deliveries.”
Workers from two German ports, along with trade unionists from Brazil, Palestine, the United States, and Venezuela, have already sent messages of support and solidarity to those organizing the 6 February action. Acknowledging the global rise of “repression and fascism”—with the US administration at the forefront—they appealed not only to the global labor movement, but also to groups engaged in other struggles, to join the mobilizations and spread the message: “Dockers don’t work for war.”
And if we could also get the airports involved…