Dockworkers in France and Italy have taken industrial action to stop weapons exports to Israel, showing the kind of action needed to stop the Gaza genocide.
On 4 June, French dockworkers in Marseille refused to load 14 tons of weapons parts destined for Israel, forcing a ZIM ship to depart without its cargo.
These parts were allegedly bound for Israel Military Industries, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, one of Israel’s largest arms manufacturers. Their union federation, the CGT (General Confederation of Labour) supported the action and called for an ban on weapons exports.
“We are very proud of this action led by our comrades, and which is part of the CGT’s long internationalist tradition for peace,” CGT secretary general Sophie Binet said.
This sparked similar action in Italy where the Genoa Port Workers’ Collective, with the backing of the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), picketed to prevent the same ZIM ship from docking. Protests were also organised against the ship at several other Italian ports.
The Italian dockers used the momentum of this victory to call a general strike on 20 June. Outside of the defence manufacturer Leonardo’s facilities in Rome, Naples, Turin, Florence, and Catania they rallied together under the slogan “Lower the weapons, raise the wages”.
The protest took aim at the Meloni government’s complicity in the genocide through arms transfers, as well as rising defence spending. One USB member said the government’s “war policies” do “nothing but impoverish an Italian population already burdened by inflation and low wages”.
This builds on several years of organising. In November 2023 the European Dockworkers Council brought together 14 unions across 12 countries for a “day of action against war and for world peace”, Later that same month, dockworkers in Barcelona announced a ban on handling any arms shipments to Israel. In December, Belgian transport workers did the same.
In October 2024, dockworkers from Greece’s Port of Piraeus stopped a shipment of ammunition going to Israel. The Swedish Dockworkers Union voted in February this year to stage a six-day boycott of all military cargo coming to and from Israel. In retaliation, the union’s national deputy chair Erik Helgeson was sacked.
Workers at the Tangier Med port in Morocco also refused to work a Maersk ship suspected of transporting F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel in April, following mass protests against the ship.
These actions show the power of industrial bans and strikes to disrupt the Israeli war machine—and the importance of building opposition to the genocide in Gaza among unions and the working class. As one Palestinian trade unionist living in the UK recently wrote, “The task ahead is to ensure that such solidarity is not exceptional but woven into the fabric of our unions”.
Union action key
Australian unions have adopted this strategy in past struggles to great success, both against apartheid in South Africa and the Vietnam War.
The Maritime Union of Australia supported a series of “Block the Boat” actions against ZIM shipping, a company heavily involved in importing and exporting military supplies from Israel, beginning in late 2023 at ports in Sydney, Fremantle and Melbourne. Union members agreed not to cross community blockades in a promising demonstration of solidarity and support for Palestine.
The scale of Israel’s genocide in Gaza is now clearer than ever. Palestinians are being routinely gunned down at aid distribution sites whilst trying to access food. In the occupied West Bank, control over movement through lockdowns and checkpoints has intensified. Simultaneously, systematic raids, arrests, and expulsions continue, and a major fuel crisis is emerging.
There is a renewed opening to push for union action here, with a significant statement released by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) last month supporting sanctions against Israel and calling for the Australian government to end “all military trade (including parts and components) with Israel and working with other governments to ensure that Australian exports are not contributing to breaches of international law”.
This has helped push other unions to take a stronger stand. The NSW nurses union’s Committee of Delegates recently endorsed a statement calling for a “medical boycott of Israel” including cutting ties with Syqe Medical and Teva Pharmaceuticals.
The task at hand is to push for more union mobilisation for the protests for Palestine and action around workplace ties to Israel. This can help build towards unions taking industrial action for Palestine, and build the pressure for sanctions. We have to redouble our efforts to support unions taking up the fight for Palestine.
By Caitlin Boyce
