Dockworkers at more than 100 ports to strike against arms shipments on Friday

By Anna Uras

Oct 29 (Reuters) - Dockworkers in 22 countries will strike on Friday, protesting against war and the use of ports for arms exports in action organisers say could disrupt over 40% of Mediterranean cargo and snarl over $2 billion worth of freight.

The strike, originally called by dockworkers' unions in Italy, France, Greece, Spain's Basque Country, Turkey and Morocco, is now backed by more than 25 unions in 113 ports.

The protest is expected to target major shipping hubs across Europe and beyond, including Hamburg, Valencia, Le Havre, Algeciras, Piraeus and Genoa, as well as Morocco's Tangier Med and India's Nhava Sheva.

However, it was unclear how many dockworkers would take part or how severe any disruption would be. A spokesman for Italy's Genoa port said it expected only a limited impact, while Piraeus warned of disruption to ferry services for the Greek islands.

Among the labour groups joining the protest are ver.di in Germany, Ireland's largest trade union SIPTU, 3F in Denmark and CGT Ports et Docks in France.

Beyond Europe, the organisers said about a dozen ports in India could be disrupted, with the Water Transport Workers Federation of India (WTWFI) also supporting the action.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, a pro-Palestinian campaign group that repeatedly tried to break Israel's blockade of Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, said it would execute "coordinated, strategic actions on the water" to support the strike.

Italian grassroots union Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) called a 24-hour general strike in Italy for the same day, with protests scheduled in over 40 cities.

Ferries will remain docked at Greek ports on Friday as Greek dockworkers, engineers and seafarers' unions join the strike.

"We will send our own message of peace from Piraeus, and we will show our solidarity with the peoples suffering from war,” dockworkers at Greece's largest port, Piraeus, said in a statement, adding they would stop work from 0800 to 1100 GMT.

Other unions in the country will stop working for 24 hours.

'WE WILL NOT WORK FOR WAR'

In May 2026, dockworkers' unions from over 35 European countries published the so-called Istanbul Declaration demanding that port facilities not be used to transport weapons destined for war zones.

Italian harbours, with Genoa at the forefront, have played a leading role in protests against arms shipments, frequently blocking cargo shipments bound for Israel and for US military bases.

Over the 2021-2025 period, Europe became the world's biggest arms importer, data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute ‌showed earlier this year.

"From planes to tanks, guns to bullets, explosives to ammunition, uniforms to boots, our ports have become replenishing and forwarding bases for war and genocide," unions said at a press conference announcing the strike.

Representatives of India's WTWFI said that about 15 Indian seafarers had died as a result of the US-Israeli war with Iran, with many more stranded at sea, highlighting the costs of armed conflicts on maritime workers.

($1 = 0.8925 euros)

(Reporting by Anna Uras, additional reporting by Renee Maltezou in Athens, editing by Crispian Balmer and Elaine Hardcastle)