By John Catalinotto
February 10, 2026

Dockworkers at 20 ports on the Mediterranean Sea launched a political strike Feb. 6 and held demonstrations against war and the expanded military budgets, especially in European Union countries. The strike targeted ships suspected of bringing arms to Israeli ports. Dockworkers also protested the privatization and militarization of port infrastructure.

The strikes were called at a meeting in Genoa last fall hosted by the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB or grassroots union), located in Italy. It was joined by Enedep (Greece), the Democratic Labor Organization of Morocco, Liman-Is (Türkiye) and LAB (Langile Abertzaleen Batzordeak, Basque for Nationalist Workers’ Committees, a left, pro-independence union in the Basque Country in the Spanish state).

This fourth strike action since mid-2025 spread the idea of a general political strike. Momentum for workers’ actions grew based on solidarity with the Palestinian resistance to Israel’s genocidal war.

In Italy, strikes were organized in port cities of Ancona, Bari, Cagliari, Civitavecchia, Crotone, Genoa, Livorno, Palermo, Ravenna, Salerno, and Trieste. Not only dockworkers and port employees but also students and others joined the actions.

According to the International Middle East Media Center, during the strike, several ships headed toward Israel had to adjust their schedules or remain offshore. This included ships operated by Zim Integrated Shipping Services and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company.

Demonstrations began in the morning in the Greek ports of Piraeus and Elefsina, in Türkiye’s Mersin, and in Bilbao and Pasaia in the Basque Country. In Greece, dockworkers contrasted the massive EU expansion of armaments and the government’s cuts to public services and infrastructure, which create increasingly unsafe working conditions. (People’s Dispatch, Feb. 8)

Reporting from all striking ports, USB representatives addressed assemblies as participants displayed Palestinian and Cuban flags. The unions urged Europe’s labor movement to orient toward international solidarity to block the anti-worker agenda of the EU and right-wing governments.

Participants emphasized that the international dockworkers’ strike is not the end. Strikers in Ravenna, Italy, said: “Today it’s the ports, tomorrow it will be the entire logistics sector, and then it will be all workers.” (Peoples Dispatch)

Solidarity actions were also organized at ports in France, Germany and North Africa. Unionists called the action part of a wider discussion about labor rights and the ethical use of ports during international conflicts, especially regarding an occupation state like Israel.

Moroccan dockworkers were forced to postpone their action when a storm closed ports. Some U.S. solidarity actions occurred and Amazon Labor Union founder Chris Smalls joined the Genoa rally. U.S. antiwar activists held a webinar on Feb. 6 in solidarity with the Mediterranean strike.