Dockworkers strike 113 ports across five continents

On Friday, October 30, dockworkers walked off the job at 113 ports in 22 countries, shutting cargo operations from Piraeus to Oakland as part of a coordinated global action against the use of civilian terminals for military cargo.

The biggest visible impact was in Greece. About 3,000 workers joined the walkout at Piraeus, bringing the country's main port to a standstill and suspending all ferry crossings to Greek islands for the day. Stoppages extended to Thessaloniki and Patras. The day before, Storm Austen had already cancelled Irish Sea sailings on the Holyhead-Dublin and Pembrokeshire-Ireland routes, adding to what had been a week of disrupted European ferry networks.

France held a 24-hour strike called by the CGT across its Channel and Atlantic terminals, with over 90% participation at Le Havre, Dunkirk, Marseille, Rouen, and Fos-sur-Mer. Italy combined its port stoppage with a national general strike, with terminals at Livorno and Genoa among those affected. Turkey called 24-hour strikes at all ports, including Haydarpaşa in Istanbul. In the United States, ILWU Local 10 at Oakland and San Francisco joined the action. India, Brazil, Australia, Sweden, and Denmark also saw stoppages or demonstrations.

The World Federation of Trade Unions coordinated the action with more than 25 unions under the slogan 'We don't work for war.' Workers in several countries said they objected to civilian ports being used for military cargo shipments and wanted legal protections to refuse such loads without facing dismissal. A research group cited in coverage had tracked 315 shipments of weapons components passing through 56 commercial ports between August 2025 and September 2026.

Organisers put the economic impact at roughly 52,000 containers worth about $2.8 billion delayed across the day. Those figures were not independently confirmed. Disruption varied considerably by port: some terminals held full stoppages, while others staged demonstrations and pickets without halting operations.