A Global Port Strike Could Freeze $2 Billion in Freight
In a global labor action of record scale, dockworkers in 22 countries will strike on Friday to protest the use of their ports for arms exports. Organizers say that the strike, organized by an international coalition of dockworkers’ unions, could disrupt as much as 40 percent of marine cargo moving through the Mediterranean and bring […]
A global labor action of unprecedented scale is set to disrupt up to 40 percent of marine cargo through the Mediterranean, potentially causing over $2 billion in freight losses. Dockworkers across 22 countries will strike on Friday in protest of their ports being used for arms exports, organized by an international coalition of dockworkers' unions.
The strike, initially called for in May, has expanded to include more than 25 dockworkers' unions from ports in 22 countries and regions spanning five continents. While no US-based national unions have signed on, groups in Oakland and San Francisco have indicated they will participate.
The dockworkers' demands include an immediate end to the genocide of Palestinians and an end to the US-Israeli war on Iran. They also demand that ports cease being used for transporting arms, ammunition, military equipment, and troops to war zones. At a press conference on October 15, representatives estimated that a single day's shipping delay could result in $43 million in lost profit.
The workers who load and unload cargo ships wield unusual power over foreign affairs and trade. Ships carry an estimated 80 percent of all international trade by volume, and wars cannot continue without the necessary raw material, such as bullets, armaments, bombs, and fuel. Much of the cargo moves by sea, as air shipping can be dangerous. Europe has invested heavily in weapons, now importing a third of the world's arms.
The history of dockworkers' strikes is long, with some strikes aiming not only to increase wages or decrease working hours but to end wars. Past strikes in the United States, like the 1913 longshoremen's strike in Philadelphia and the 2008 West Coast shutdown during the Iraq war, won wage increases and better working conditions and disrupted war supply chains.
However, US efforts to target ports and stop weapons shipments since Israel's 2023 bombardment of Gaza have had limited success. Internationally, port truckers, metalworkers, and dockworkers have found strategies to stop arms shipments, such as coordinated actions in 2019 to stop weapons shipments to Saudi Arabia and 2024 in Greece's port of Piraeus to prevent arms from reaching Israel.
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