Dockworkers Strike at 113 Ports in 22 Countries Over Arms Shipments

Dockworkers went on strike on Friday, October 30, 2026 across Europe and beyond, disrupting shipping and ferry services in a protest against the use of their ports for arms shipments and the number of seafarers killed in wars from the Gulf to the Black Sea.

The walkout reached 113 ports in 22 countries. Workers also called for pay rises, better working conditions and the right to have doctors on board vessels crossing war zones.

Ports from Piraeus to Tangier Med

More than 25 unions backed the strike. It was originally called in Italy, France, Greece, Spain's Basque Country, Turkey and Morocco, and it spread to major hubs including Piraeus, Valencia, Le Havre, Algeciras and Genoa, plus Tangier Med in Morocco and Nhava Sheva in India.

Unions joining the action included Germany's ver.di, Ireland's SIPTU, Denmark's 3F and France's CGT Ports et Docks.

In Piraeus, cargo operations were disrupted and ferry services to the Greek islands were suspended. About 3,000 dockworkers and seafarers joined the walkout at the port.

At a rally in Piraeus, Apostolos Kypraios, head of the Greek union of merchant marine engineers, said: "We will not work for their wars, and we will not become food for their cannons."

Deaths at sea behind the protest

The Greek seafarers union PENEN said there had been 570 attacks confirmed in the Black Sea so far this year, leaving 40 seafarers dead and hundreds wounded. PENEN also 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.

A campaign group called No Harbour for Genocide said the protest would halt some 52,000 containers and snarl cargo worth $2.8 billion. Reuters was not able to independently verify that impact claim.

A demand first set out in Istanbul

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

Reuters reported on October 29, 2026 that dockworkers at more than 100 ports planned to strike on Friday against arms shipments. The action on October 30, 2026 went ahead across the full network of ports, with the stoppage at Piraeus among the most visible.

The strike linked workplace demands with the protest against arms shipments. Workers sought higher pay and safer conditions on land and at sea, and they tied the call for doctors on board to the risks faced by crews crossing war zones in the Gulf and the Black Sea.