European Dockworkers Refuse to Load Weapons Aimed at Palestine

On June 4, in response to the unfolding genocide in Gaza, France’s CGT dockworkers refused to load arms components bound for Israel at the country’s largest port in Fos-Marseille. Their action forced the ship to leave port without its deadly cargo.

Across Europe, dockers carried on the fight. In Genoa, Italian dockworkers pledged to inspect the same vessel and block it if weapons were found. At the Italian ports of Salerno and Scilla, the ship sparked protests. Sophie Binet, the CGT’s national secretary-general, called on the French government to immediately halt arms deliveries to Israel.

This was no one-off protest. It built on a decades-long tradition of internationalism, anti-militarism, and anti-imperialism among European dockworkers, including coordinated actions to block weapons to Saudi Arabia in 2019.

As organizers with Workers in Palestine, we support trade unionists around the world who are building solidarity with Palestine. Some of the most powerful actions we’ve seen in the labor movement globally have come from European dockworkers.

In November 2023 the European Dockworkers Council, an autonomous organization of 14 base-level dockworker unions across 12 countries, organized a coordinated day of action against war and for world peace. That sparked further action: Dockworkers from Barcelona announced they would not handle to arms to Israel. And in October 2024, dockworkers from Greece’s Port of Piraeus stopped a shipment carrying arms.

SIX-DAY BOYCOTT

The most sustained action came earlier this year, after 68 percent of Swedish Dockworkers Union members voted to stage a six-day boycott of all military cargo to and from Israel. The boycott was entirely legal, and Sweden’s labor courts unanimously upheld it in a preliminary ruling.

Yet on the very day of that legal victory, SDU spokesperson and national deputy chair Erik Helgeson was fired by his employer, Gothenburg RoRo Terminal. His dismissal was a blatant act of retaliation and an attack on workers’ right to organize and take meaningful political action.

SUPPORT LABOR NOTES

BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR

Give $10 a month or more and get our "Fight the Boss, Build the Union" T-shirt.

The Swedish dockers have not backed down. Following a breakdown in contract negotiations, they launched industrial action in May, striking on demands that include stronger protections for union representatives. They are simultaneously pursuing a legal case against the employer and have built a growing campaign across Europe demanding Helgeson’s reinstatement.

Dockworkers across Europe have acted in solidarity with the striking Swedish dockers. Belgian dockworkers from the ACV union in Ghent and Zeebrugge refused to handle a ship loaded by strike-breakers from the Swedish city of Gothenburg.

All of this is unfolding against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing attack on Gaza, abetted by the U.S. and other Western governments who continue to provide arms to Israel. Entire communities have been reduced to rubble by Israel’s daily bombing. Palestinian trade unionists who remain in Gaza are working tirelessly to keep their communities alive—running soup kitchens, providing mutual aid, and continuing the vital work that trade unions do in times of crisis.

Blockades by dockworkers stand out as one of the most concrete and disruptive forms of solidarity that workers can offer when governments refuse to act. Dockers are showing what it takes to build sustained resistance to war and oppression.

The task ahead is to ensure that such solidarity is not exceptional, but woven into the fabric of our unions so that workers are ready to act not just for one moment, but for the long haul.

To support the campaign for Erik Helgeson’s reinstatement, visit our campaign page and donate to the union’s GoFundMe. Go to Workers in Palestine to learn about organizing for Palestine in your union.

Rafeef Ziadah is a Palestinian trade unionist and organizer with Workers in Palestine and teaches at King’s College London. Katy Fox-Hodess is the research development director of the Centre for Decent Work at the University of Sheffield and researches dockworker solidarity with Palestine.