Dockworkers at Over 100 Ports Walk Out Over Weapons Cargo and Pay

Dockworkers in France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Turkey and Morocco downed tools Friday in a coordinated action targeting the movement of military hardware through commercial harbors. Unions said the walkouts reached more than 100 ports and could snarl operations across Europe, the Mediterranean and North America. The unions issued a joint call demanding an end to wars in the Middle East, including the conflict in Gaza, and an end to the militarization of ports.

The labor action rests on a refusal to handle materiel. "Ports must not be used for the transport of weapons, ammunition, military equipment and troops," the unions' statement said. "Dockworkers do not work for war!" Giorgos Gogos, president of the Dockworkers Union of Piraeus Port Authority, said workers did not want to take part in any conflict. "We don't want our ports to be hubs of military material, transferred so as to kill people," he said.

In Greece, unions called a strike at Piraeus, the country's largest port. A separate seafarers' dispute over pay, working conditions and safety held ships at their berths at several Greek ports and disrupted ferry service. Protesters in Istanbul gathered outside the Haydarpasa port under a banner reading: "No to war, no to armament!" In Italy, demonstrations were scheduled at Genoa, Trieste and Gioia Tauro to coincide with a nationwide general strike called by the Unione Sindacale di Base.

France's CGT ports and docks federation ordered a one-day stoppage at Le Havre, Marseille, Dunkirk and Rouen. The federation opposes what it calls the militarization of port facilities under European policies and rejects budget proposals from the French government that it says would erode social protections. Tens of thousands marched across Italy on Friday over prices and other grievances, but the general strike moved less transport than expected after the government ordered transport workers back to their posts.

Organizers said participation ranged from full-day strikes to shorter walkouts and demonstrations, and the extent of the disruption remained unclear. C.H. Robinson, a supply chain management company, told clients of possible operational problems and shipment delays, noting the effect would vary by port, terminal and level of involvement. Marcus Baker, global head of marine, cargo and logistics at Marsh, said a 24-hour strike was unlikely to significantly disrupt global trade, though perishable goods and time-sensitive shipments could suffer. He said the action would further complicate supply chains already strained by Middle East tensions, El Nino, restrictions affecting the Rhine and Panama Canal, and shifting tariffs.

Judah Levine, head of research at Freightos, said the strike could deepen congestion at Genoa, where vessels already wait one to two days for a berth. Ed Anderson, a professor of supply chain and operations management at the University of Texas' McCombs School of Business, said the protests were unlikely to cause shortages. "Just one day is not that much in terms of disruption," he said.