Tens of thousands of dockworkers across Europe and the Mediterranean shut down 21 major ports in a co-ordinated day of strike action in support of Palestine on 6 February.
The strikes spanned from Casablanca in Morrocco to Mersin on the south coast of Turkey. Several ships with cargoes bound for Israel were delayed and forced to re-route because of the strike.
The slogan for the day of action was “Dockworkers Don’t Work for War”. It was supported by the World Federation of Trade Unions, which represents hundreds of millions of workers internationally.
Their demands were: a complete arms embargo on Israel, an immediate end to Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, the opening of a humanitarian corridor into Gaza and an end to the European Unions plans for re-militarisation.
Many of the strikers connected the struggle against their own government’s austerity with the fight for Palestinian liberation.
Greece
In Greece, wharfies from Piraeus—the country’s largest and most important port—were joined by teachers, healthcare workers, public sector workers and students in a 24-hour city-wide strike.
Across the country, workers have been resisting the hugely unpopular New Democracy government, which has been gutting infrastructure while pumping money into arms deals and their own pockets.
Marina, a member of the Greek Socialist Workers’ Party (SEK), explained, “New Democracy is the most hated government we’ve ever had in modern times.
“In Greece, we have the most expensive rents and groceries, yet the lowest wages and longest work days in all of Europe.
“For the working class in Greece, it is no longer a question of there needing to be a real change, but how this change will happen.”
Recently, Greek farmers have been blockading major roads after it was revealed that New Democracy was channelling EU funds meant for supporting agriculture into phoney businesses owned by government allies. In one case, an airport was falsely called a cattle paddock to siphon funds away.
New Democracy has presided over several “state murders” where poorly funded infrastructure has caused fatal disasters, such as the derailment of a train near Tempi which killed 79.
More recently, a biscuit factory in Trikala caught fire during a night shift, killing five workers. Complaints about a gas leak a full five months before were ignored.
Meanwhile, New Democracy announced at the end of last year that Greece would buy 36 Israeli rocket artillery systems at a cost of around $1 billion.
Italy
Most of the ports shut down were in Italy, where the Unione Sindicale di Base (USB) and the Autonomous Port Workers Collective (CALP) has already led several major strikes for Palestine across Italy.
Last year, over a million Italians protested across the country, shutting down universities, ports and train lines in protest at Israel’s attack on the Sumud Flotilla, which sought to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid.
The Italian labour movement has built on this momentum and many workers have been taking separate initiatives, such as an “observatory” where arms shipments with Israel are monitored and tracked.
Italian workers are also demanding an end to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s plan to privatise many of the country’s ports as part of sweeping austerity plans. As a result, the wharfies were joined by groups of rail workers who are also facing the privatisation of state-owned railways.
The day of action is the most extensive industrial action for Palestine across Europe so far. More is likely to come.
In Ravenna, Italian strikers pledged, “Today it’s the ports, tomorrow it will be the entire logistics sectors and then it will be all workers.”
This is what it means to “Globalise the Intifada” and force sanctions on Israel.
The Palestine movement in Australia needs to work towards the same kind of action. Drawing unions into the movement on a more serious basis here is a key task.
Israel relies on weapons and support from the West to continue its occupation of Palestinian land. Workers have the power to shut down the logistics and supplies that are the arteries for Israel’s ongoing genocide.
By Maeve Larkins
