Dockworkers

European Dockworkers Refuse To Load Weapons Aimed At Palestine

June 13, 2025 Rafeef Ziadah and Katy Fox-Hodess, Labor Notes. Resist! Dockworkers, Europe, France, Israel, Italy, Palestine Solidarity, Ports, weapons

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.

Swedish Dockworkers’ Union Leader Sacked For Gaza Solidarity Action

May 16, 2025 Arthur Neslen, Equal Times. Resist! Dockworkers, Gaza, Palestine Solidarity, Sweden, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Security is a funny elixir. The more of it that you have, the less there is for someone else… or that’s the conventional wisdom anyway. Erik Helgeson’s experience, however, proves otherwise. Erik, 42, is the vice-chair of the Swedish Dockworkers’ Union and he cared deeply for the security of his members – and also for the safety of Gazan civilians, some of whom have been killed by weapons which may have passed through the port of Gothenburg, where he has worked for 20 years. Erik cared so much in fact that in February of this year, he led a symbolic six-day blockade of 20 Swedish ports against military cargos destined for Israel. His employer – DFDS – responded by sacking him, claiming that he had broken Sweden’s Security Protection Act.

Moroccan Dockworkers Call Boycott Of Maersk’s Arms Shipment To Israel

April 18, 2025 Aseel Saleh, People's Dispatch. Resist! Dockworkers, Israel, Mask Off Maersk, Morocco, Ports, Unions, weapons

Morocco’s Port Workers’ Union, affiliated with the Moroccan Labor Union, has called on workers, users, and operative companies at the port of Casablanca to boycott the Nexoe Maersk ship, which will arrive to the port on Friday, April 18, due to its planned shipment of military equipment to Israel between April 20 and 22. The union made the call in order to protest Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. The union urged dockworkers to abstain from unloading or servicing operations for the ship, warning that facilitating its passage would make all involved “direct accomplices in the genocidal war against the Palestinian people.”

US Dockworkers Could Strike Again Before Trump’s Inauguration

January 4, 2025 People's Dispatch. Resist! Dockworkers, Donald Trump, Strikes, Unions

Months after a strike numbering in the tens of thousands, US dockworkers throughout the East Coast could once again walk off the job just before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. The October strike of dockworkers organized by the The International Longshoremen’s Association, the ILA’s first strike since 1977, ended after three days with an agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) to extend the master contract until January 15, and return to the bargaining table to continue negotiations. The strike in early October resulted in a tentative agreement between USMX and ILA dockworkers which secured a 62% wage hike over six years.

Athens Dockworkers Block Ammunition Shipment Bound For Israel

October 19, 2024 People's Dispatch. Resist! Blockade, Dockworkers, Greece, Israel, Palestine, Palestine Solidarity, Piraeus Port, Shipping industry

Workers at the Piraeus Port in Athens successfully blocked a shipment of ammunition bound for Israel in a late-night action on October 17. Following a call to action by the dockworkers’ union ENEDEP, port workers and activists mobilized to prevent a container of bullets, designated for the port of Haifa, from being loaded onto the ship Marla Bull, owned by Israeli company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services. In addition to ENEDEP, the action was supported by several workers’ organizations, including the Labor Center of Piraeus and unions of metalworkers and the shipbuilding industry. The workers declared they would not be complicit in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza by allowing the container to sail, as its cargo would be used to kill more Palestinians.

Port Strike Is Suspended Until January After Days On Picket Lines

October 4, 2024 Ian Kayanja and Claire Weber, MSN. Resist! Dockworkers, Protests, South Carolina, Victory, Worker Rights and Jobs

Local International Longshoremen's Association workers claim the port strike is over, Kenneth Riley with Local 1422 said to News 4. Riley, the international vice president of the ILA and ILA Local 1422 member, claimed the dockworkers got the automation language and significant pay raises included in the contract. However, the deal is far from over. The union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, is to resume working immediately at least until January while contract negotiations continue. “Now that the parties have agreed to resume their roles in our supply chain success, South Carolina’s maritime community stands prepared to deliver for shippers, including manufacturers, farmers and retailers, who utilize our port facilities to access global markets," said South Carolina Port Authority Chief Executive Office Barbara Melvin.

Nearly 50,000 US Dockworkers Strike And Flex Collective Power

October 2, 2024 People's Dispatch. Resist! Boston, Dockworkers, Florida, Houston, International Longshoremen's Association’s (ILA), Maersk, Massachusetts, Miami, New York (NY), Strikes, Texas, Worker Rights and Jobs

At midnight on October 1, nearly 50,000 dockworkers across the US’s East Coast walked off the job, shutting down ports across the coastline across cities including Boston, New York, Miami, and Houston. This is the International Longshoremen’s Association’s (ILA) first strike since 1977. ILA dockworkers are a lynchpin of the US economy. Ports affected by the strike include the Port of New York and New Jersey, the nation’s third largest port in terms of the volume of cargo. “When my men hit the streets from Maine to Texas, every single port will lockdown,” said ILA President Harold Daggett. “Everything in the United States comes on a ship.”

A Port Strike Has Already Hit Canada As US Prepares For Walkouts

September 30, 2024 William Gavin, Yahoo News. Resist! Canada, Dockworkers, Ports, Strikes, Supply Chain, Unions

As the U.S. economy prepares for a potentially devastating strike across its East Coast ports, Canada is already dealing with its own. About 320 longshoreman represented by a local affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, began a 72-hour strike on Monday morning, freezing work at two terminals at the Port of Montreal. Those terminals, which are operated by Termont, represent about 40% of the containers that move through the port. The Port of Montreal impacts 37,774 jobs and contributes $2.7 billion to Canada’s economy every year, according to a 2023 study. It also provides more than 2,000 jobs to the U.S. and $145 million in economic benefits.

Don’t Like War? Then Don’t Work!

May 4, 2024 Peter Cole, In These Times. Strategize! Antiwar Movement, Dockworkers, May Day, Ports, Strikes, Worker Rights and Jobs

May Day — a legal holiday for workers in most countries — was born in Chicago. On May 1, 1886, workers shut down America’s greatest industry city, and other cities too, to demand the 8-hour workday. In 1894, the U.S. Congress intentionally created a Labor Day at another time of the year, but some Americans continue celebrating the original, real Labor Day. On May 1, 2008, 10,000 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), one of the strongest and most militant unions in the United States, walked in those Chicagoans’ footsteps. They did so by walking off the docks at all 29 West Coast ports, completely shutting down America’s Pacific trading network.

Dockworkers To Refuse Canadian-Bound Cargo In Solidarity With Strike

July 12, 2023 Mike Schuler, gCaptain. Resist! Canada, Dockworkers, ILWU, Solidarity, Strikes, Worker Rights and Jobs

Dockworkers on the U.S. West Coast will refuse to unload cargo destined for Canada in a display of solidarity with striking port workers in British Columbia. The move was announced by ILWU International president Willie Adams on Monday, stating “The ILWU will not be unloading Canadian bound cargo in solidarity with our Brothers and Sisters in ILWU Canada.” ILWU Canada and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) have been unable to reach a new collective bargaining agreement covering some 7,400 longshore workers and foremen at Canada’s West Coast ports since the previous agreements expired on March 31, 2023.

Daily movement news and resources