Report of Kamgar Ekta Committee (KEC) correspondent
Dockworkers at more than 20 Mediterranean docks unitedly organized a strike to oppose war, militarization and the privatization of ports. Dockworkers have declared that public resources and workers’ labour cannot be used for war! War has already impacted workers’ rights, as evident in recent pension rule amendments in European countries and rising inflation. This historic strike has shown the power of the unity of organized workers in blocking the capitalist machine that promotes war for profit.
On 6 February 2026, the ship ZIM Virginia, loaded with weapons, stopped near the Italian port of Livorno but could not dock there. The ships ZIM New Zealand, ZIM Australia, and MSC EAGLE III, which regularly carry arms, were similarly blocked from docking. These were the first tangible results of the historic international strike launched by dockworkers across more than 20 Mediterranean ports.
On the call of Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) of Italy, Enedep of Greece, Organization Democratique du Travail of Morocco, Liman-Is of Turkey and Nationalist Workers’ Committees (LAB) of Basque Country, dockworkers across countries went on strike to protest militarization, war, and the privatisation of ports on 6 February. Workers at ports such as Genoa, Livorno, Ravenno, Salerno, Palermo, Piraeus, Elefsina, Bilbao, San Sebastian, Mersin, Tangier, and other major ports participated in this historic strike. Thousands of citizens, students and industrial workers joined the militant strike demonstrations. Dockworkers in Hamburg, Bremen, and Marseille also organized demonstrations in solidarity.
The striking workers declared “Dockworkers Don’t Work for War,” raising the following demands:
- to ensure that European and Mediterranean ports are places of peace and free from any involvement in war;
- to block all arms shipments from our ports to the genocide in Palestine as well as to any other war zones, and to demand a trade embargo on Israel by local governments and institutions;
- to oppose the EU Re-Arm plan and to stop the EU and European governments’ imminent plan to militarize ports and strategic infrastructures;
- to reject rearmament plans as a gateway to further privatization and automation of ports and to oppose the effects of the war economy on our wages, rights and health and safety conditions.
- “If we don’t take this step, all our other demands will be crushed under war”
Dockworkers stressed that European countries are expanding defence budgets and militarization. Instead of using people’s money for the people, governments are increasingly directing this money towards re-armament and the war industry, leaving fewer resources for the public. This is clearly seen in recent attacks such as increase in pension age, amendments to pension laws, promotion of fixed-term employment, and increase in inflation.
European workers have been protesting against all such anti-people and anti-worker measures, with several strikes organized in the last few years. However, the war economy has already severely impacted wages and essential public services. Francesco Staccioli of USB warned that if workers do not oppose war and militarization now, this will have harmful effects on workers’ struggles: “If we don’t take this step, all our other demands will be crushed under war.”
A press release of the unions noted, “These rearmament plans are welcomed by shipowners and terminal operators, as they enable a strong push toward automation, a reduction in employment and an erosion of trade union freedoms. The war economy is cutting dockworkers’ wages, rights, and health and safety protections.”
Dockworkers have also strongly opposed the use of ports for enabling Israel’s genocidal war on Palestine. They have stated that ports, built with public money and belonging to the public, are being used for war logistics, which should not be allowed!
Against capitalist agenda, towards workers’ international unity
Through their united action, dockworkers of Mediterranean countries have sent a strong signal of international solidarity against the privatization and militarization of ports.
This strike and its immediate effects stand testament to the power of workers’ united struggle. Organized workers—whether they work at docks, power plants, railway stations, or IT corporations—can block the wheels of the capitalist system that uses war for profit.
The state deliberately spreads lies such as “Immigrants are the problem!” or “Another religion is the problem!” However, dockworkers have recognized that the real intention of war and militarization is to increase the profits of large multinational corporations. The striking workers have stated that the war and re-armament measures of European governments will enable continuation of the genocide in Palestine while also oppressing the working and toiling majority of their own countries.
On 6 February, citizens and workers in the USA who are opposing militarization and anti-immigration policies in their own country—including the SEIU Local 26 union of Minneapolis—expressed solidarity with the dockworkers’ strike. Demonstrations of solidarity were also organized by citizens in Colombia and oil workers in Brazil. Building such international solidarity of workers and the toiling majority is more important than ever. Workers in India must stand in solidarity with these actions!
A press release of the USB, dated 7 February, is provided below.
—-
Dockworkers don’t work for war: the international strike as a starting point, solidarity can stop rearmament
Friday the 6th saw five trade union organizations call a joint day of struggle, with demonstrations in the main European and Italian ports.
The strong international impact of the first international day of struggle by European and Mediterranean ports has confirmed how right it was to make the fight against war and the war economy one of the central issues for the future in Italy, in Europe, and in the world. This was also confirmed by the participation of tens of thousands of workers, along with citizens, students, and industrial workers—in the various demonstrations held across different ports: in Piraeus, Elefsina, Bilbao, Pasaia, Mersin, and also in Marseille, Bremen, and Hamburg, as well as in 12 Italian cities.
Among the immediate results achieved by the mobilization, which blocked five ships, including three belonging to the Israeli company Zim and two from MSC bound for Israel, was the demonstration that workers can stop the chains of war logistics.
We express our closeness to the dockworkers and citizens of Morocco affected by the severe floods that led to the closure of ports and made it impossible to carry out any initiative.
We thank all those associations and movements that chose to support this day and were present at the demonstrations, such as BDS, GMTG, Thousand Madleen, Palestinian movements, and many others.
We chose to place at the center the role that work and workers can play in refusing to be complicit in this infernal mechanism and in stopping the militarist drift of our continent.
A choice that places international solidarity as a concrete and real tool to oppose imperialism, genocides, and aggressions, but also as an essential factor in defending wages, working conditions, health and safety, and the right to a pension for dockworkers.
Therefore, strengthened by what was done yesterday, starting today this path will continue toward strengthening solidarity, toward another day of struggle that will be even more widely attended, involving more ports and more workers, including from other sectors.
February 6 represents an important starting point, because it brings a fundamental issue to the table of international trade unionism: the rejection of the war economy, the rearmament plan, and the militarization of ports, while other demands also emerge strongly: the rejection of privatizations, higher wages, better pensions, and more adequate safety conditions for workers.