September 25, 2026
Appeal from the WFTU to its members and to trade unions around the world.
The World Federation of Trade Unions issues a militant, class-oriented and internationalist call to its member organizations and trade unions around the world to make the 2nd International Day of Action of Dockworkers on Oct. 30, 2026, their own cause and support it.
One of the actions during the Feb. 6, 2026, general strikes at a port city in Italy.
The mobilization is taking place at a critical time, as military conflicts are spreading and war fronts are dangerously expanding and becoming interconnected, from Ukraine to the Middle East. The murderous state of Israel, with the support of the U.S., the European Union and NATO, continues its crime against the Palestinian people and escalates its military aggression against Iran and Lebanon, increasing the danger of an even broader conflict.
Behind the various pretexts lies the conflict among powerful capitalist states and the confrontation between the Euro-Atlantic bloc of the U.S. – NATO – EU and other imperialist centres over markets, energy, raw materials, trade routes and control of strategic infrastructure.
Imperialist wars are not a departure from the “normal” functioning of the capitalist system. They are the continuation of exploitation and competition by other means. Billions are being spent on armaments and the war economy, while wages are squeezed, social spending is cut, healthcare and education are commodified and exploitation reaches extreme levels, with exhausting schedules, including 13-hour working days and work seven days a week.
The peoples have nothing to gain from wars and the antagonisms of the imperialists. They are called upon to pay for profits, wars and the consequences of a new capitalist economic crisis, to sacrifice themselves for interests that are alien to their own, while business groups claim ever larger shares of the spoils.
Ports, railways, airports and transport infrastructure as a whole are being turned into critical hubs for the movement of weapons, ammunition, military equipment and troops. Workers are being pressured to become cogs in the war machine and accomplices in crimes against the peoples.
Dockworkers have already proved that, through organization, collective struggle and coordinated internationalist action, they can prevent ports from being turned into staging grounds for war. They can block the cargoes of death that fuel the Israeli state’s slaughter of the Palestinian people and the spread of war throughout the Middle East.
February 2026 action in 20 ports
On Feb 6, 2026, strike action was held in 20 ports across seven countries. In May, in Istanbul, trade union organizations from 35 ports formed a coordination network, which now encompasses more than 40 ports across the Mediterranean and Europe, with the participation of organizations from France, Greece, the Basque Country, Türkiye, Morocco and Italy, under the slogan: “Dockworkers do not work for war.”
On Oct. 30, trade unions will hold new militant actions and strikes. The common framework “Ports for Peace – Jobs with Dignity” links the struggle against imperialist war with the fight for Collective Labor Agreements, wage increases, stable employment, shorter working hours and substantive health and safety measures.
is also linked to opposition to privatizations, subcontracted and temporary employment and the use of automation and artificial intelligence to eliminate jobs and intensify exploitation. Technological and scientific progress must serve to reduce working time and improve workers’ lives, not the profitability of the monopolies.
The experience of dockworkers has wider significance for workers in the metal industry and shipyards, railways, energy, telecommunications, transport and logistics. These sectors connect ports, industrial zones and military infrastructure and can play a decisive role in the common struggle against imperialist war and exploitation.
October 30 can mark a major new step in the international, militant coordination of the working class. From port to port, in every workplace and sector, from country to country, workers are sending the message that they will not choose between the camps of their exploiters, will not become cogs in their war machine and will not sacrifice their lives and rights for the profits of the monopolies.
No sacrifice for the profits and wars of the imperialists!
Long live the internationalist solidarity of the working class!
