Dockworkers Strike Across 113 Ports in 22 Countries Against Arms Shipments and War Deaths
From Piraeus to Tangier Med to Nhava Sheva, port workers walked out on Friday in a coordinated strike linking arms cargo, seafarer safety and pay.
Highlights
- Dockworkers struck across 113 ports in 22 countries on Friday, disrupting shipping and ferries
- More than 25 unions backed the strike, originally called in Italy, France, Greece, Spain’s Basque Country, Turkey and Morocco
- Protesters demanded ports not be used for arms shipments, plus pay rises, better conditions and doctors on board vessels crossing war zones
- Unions cited 28 attacks on vessels in the Gulf in the first 21 days of October, and 570 confirmed attacks in the Black Sea this year leaving 40 seafarers dead
- About 3,000 dockworkers and seafarers joined the walkout in Piraeus, where ferry services to Greek islands were suspended
A strike on three continents
Dockworkers went on strike across Europe and beyond on Friday, disrupting shipping and ferries as they protested against the use of their ports for arms shipments and the number of seafarers killed in wars from the Gulf to the Black Sea Reuters.
Strikers across 113 ports in 22 countries also called for pay rises, better working conditions and the right to have doctors on board vessels crossing war zones Reuters. More than 25 unions backed the strike, which covered major shipping hubs in Piraeus, Valencia, Le Havre, Algeciras and Genoa, as well as Morocco’s Tangier Med and India’s Nhava Sheva Reuters.
‘Seafarers have suffered many casualties’
At a rally at the Greek port of Piraeus, the human cost behind the action was spelled out by Apostolos Kypraios, head of the Greek union of merchant marine engineers:
“Seafarers have suffered many casualties — numbering in the hundreds — including both the dead and the severely injured.” — Apostolos Kypraios Reuters
The unions cited a record 28 attacks on vessels in the Gulf in the first 21 days of October since the start of the Iran war, and 570 confirmed attacks in the Black Sea so far this year, leaving 40 seafarers dead and hundreds wounded Reuters. Representatives of India’s WTWFI union said about 15 Indian seafarers had died as a result of the Iran war, with many more stranded at sea as waterways were blocked Reuters.
Disruption, and a claim Reuters could not verify
Cargo operations were disrupted in Piraeus and ferry services to Greek islands were suspended, as about 3,000 dockworkers and seafarers joined the walkout there Reuters. A campaign group, ‘No Harbour for Genocide’, said the protest would halt some 52,000 containers and snarl cargo worth $2.8 billion — a figure Reuters was not able to independently verify Reuters.
The strike grows out of the so-called Istanbul Declaration of May 2026, in which dockworkers’ unions from over 35 European countries demanded that port facilities not be used to transport weapons destined for war zones Reuters. Friday showed that declaration has become coordinated action — the supply chains behind several wars now run through ports whose workers are, collectively, saying no.
