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Dockworkers at 113 Ports in 22 Countries Strike Over Arms Shipments and War Deaths

Dockworkers walked out at 113 ports in 22 countries on Friday to protest the use of civilian ports for arms shipments, disrupting cargo and ferry service from Piraeus to Genoa.

By admin Oct. 30, 2026 · 11:46 AM ET 3 min read

A large container port with tall cranes, rows of stacked shipping containers and a cargo ship docked at the quay.

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.

A large container port with tall cranes, rows of stacked shipping containers and a cargo ship docked at the quay.
A large container port with tall cranes, rows of stacked shipping containers and a cargo ship docked at the quay.

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 reported. More than 25 unions backed the strike, which was originally called in Italy, France, Greece, Spain’s Basque Country, Turkey and Morocco.

On Friday, the action covered major shipping hubs in Piraeus, Valencia, Le Havre, Algeciras and Genoa, as well as Morocco’s Tangier Med and India’s Nhava Sheva.

“We will not work for their wars”

A group of dockworkers in hard hats and yellow high-visibility vests standing together near stacked shipping containers at a port.
A group of dockworkers in hard hats and yellow high-visibility vests standing together near stacked shipping containers at a port.

“We will not work for their wars, and we will not become food for their cannons,” Apostolos Kypraios, head of the Greek union of merchant marine engineers, told Reuters during a rally at the Greek port of Piraeus.

Cargo operations were disrupted in Piraeus and ferry services to Greek islands were suspended, as about 3,000 dockworkers and seafarers joined the walkout, Reuters reported.

“We have felt it first hand, and our families have felt it too, living with the anxiety of whether a colleague will get back home,” Kypraios added.

Seafarer deaths at sea

A large yellow dockside crane lifting a blue shipping container above a cargo ship at a port.
A large yellow dockside crane lifting a blue shipping container above a cargo ship at a port.

“Seafarers have suffered many casualties, numbering in the hundreds, including both the dead and the severely injured,” the Greek seafarers’ union PENEN said in a statement.

PENEN said there had been 28 attacks on vessels in the Gulf in the first 21 days of October, a record since the start of the Iran war. It said there had been 570 attacks confirmed in the Black Sea so far this year, leaving 40 seafarers dead and hundreds wounded.

Representatives of India’s Water Transport Workers Federation said about 15 Indian seafarers had died as a result of the Iran war, with many more stranded at sea as waterways were blocked.

Two white passenger ferries moored at a harbor terminal with calm water and a coastal town behind them.
Two white passenger ferries moored at a harbor terminal with calm water and a coastal town behind them.

A group of dockworkers and other activists called No Harbour for Genocide, which campaigns to stop military cargo from reaching Israeli ports, said on Friday the protest would halt some 52,000 containers and snarl cargo worth $2.8 billion. Reuters said it was not able to independently verify the impact.

In May 2026, dockworkers’ unions from more than 35 European countries published the Istanbul Declaration, demanding that port facilities not be used to transport weapons destined for war zones. Dockworkers said they were also worried about the rising cost of essential goods and energy, stemming from the ongoing conflicts.

“We can’t even afford to fill the car with fuel to get to the supermarket,” George Gogos, head of the Piraeus port dockworkers’ union, said.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.

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