Dockworkers in more than 20 Mediterranean ports held coordinated strike actions on Friday, February 6, as part of an International Day of Action opposing Israel’s war on Gaza and the shipment of weapons to Israel.
Workers in ports across Italy, Greece, the Basque Country, Morocco and Turkey took part in the action, which targeted arms transfers and what unions described as government complicity in the war. The strike focused on the increasing militarisation of port infrastructure and the impact of war-related logistics on workers’ rights and social security systems.
The action was initiated by the Italian grassroots dockworkers’ union Unione Sindacale di Base (USB). Speaking ahead of the strike, USB representative Francesco Staccioli said that continued militarisation threatened both workers’ demands and broader social protections.
Union representatives said opposition to arms shipments, port militarisation and foreign military interventions was inseparable from local labour struggles. They also warned of growing pressure and disciplinary measures against workers who mobilize in solidarity with Palestinians.
USB cited cases in Italy where firefighters and other public sector workers faced disciplinary action after participating in pro-Palestine demonstrations, describing this as part of a wider pattern of repression against dissent.
Dockworkers from Mersin in Turkey and Piraeus in Greece also stressed the need for coordinated international action. Representatives from the port of Piraeus said that collective worker resistance could prevent ports from becoming corridors for weapons deliveries.
The strike followed a declaration signed in September 2025 in the Italian port of Genoa titled “Dockworkers and port workers do not work for war,” reaffirming union opposition to Israel’s military campaign and the involvement of the United States, NATO and European Union states.
The port of Genoa, one of the Mediterranean’s largest shipping hubs, handled approximately 2.74 million containers in 2023.
Trade unions and workers’ groups from Germany, as well as from Brazil, Palestine, the United States and Venezuela, issued messages of support for the action.
In the United Kingdom, major trade union bodies did not formally endorse the strike. However, Unison General Secretary Andrea Egan said at a recent demonstration in London that Palestine would remain a priority issue for unions and that complicity in the war would not be supported.
The coordinated strike marked one of the largest labour-led international actions opposing the war on Gaza since it began.
