[News] 'Choose your side': Italian unions launch nationwide strike over genocide in Gaza

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeasteye.net 
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/italian-dockworkers-warn-they-will-shut-down-europe-if-gaza-sumud-flotilla-attacked> 



  'Choose your side': Italian unions launch nationwide strike over
  genocide in Gaza

Dalia Ismail
September 22, 2025
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unions and pro-Palestine activists in Italy are holding a nationwide 
strike to protest Israel's 
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel>ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Organisers of the day of action on Monday condemned the Italian 
government and European Union's complicity in the atrocities carried out 
by Israel against Palestinians 
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine>in the besieged Strip.

They also voiced support for the Global Sumud Flotilla 
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/global-sumud-flotilla-sets-out-last-leg-journey-gaza>, 
which is attempting to break Israel's blockade on Gaza and deliver 
humanitarian aid to the territory.

The strike was called for by the Autonomous Dockworkers Collective 
(CALP) and the Basic Union (USB) - a national grassroots trade union 
confederation known for its militant platform - as well as the Global 
Movement to Gaza Italy, a solidarity network backing the flotilla's mission.

Guido Lutrario, USB's national secretary, said the strike will put 
pressure on the Italian government to take more effective action against 
Israel.

"We will stop the country - block ports and stations, halt goods and 
movement to paralyse the nation and force the government to choose whose 
side it’s on," Lutrario said.

Across Italy, grassroots mobilisations are taking place in opposition to 
the right-wing government of Giorgia Meloni and in support of the 
Palestinian people.

At the port of Ravenna in northern Italy on 18 September, two containers 
carrying 
<https://www.unita.it/2025/09/18/carico-esplosivi-diretti-israele-bloccato-porto-ravenna/>explosives 
bound for Israel were blocked by the city’s mayor Alessandro Barattoni 
and local authorities after the ship's contents were reported by 
dockworkers.

Earlier on 7 August, dockworkers in Genoa prevented the Saudi-owned 
vessel Bahri Yanbu from loading an Oto Melara cannon, produced by the 
Italian arms manufacturer Leonardo. The weaponry was en-route to the 
Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi.

    'If we lose contact with our boats, with our comrades, even for just
    twenty minutes, we will shut down all of Europe'

    - /Riccardo Rudino, Genoa dockworker/

CALP members from Genoa were on board a vessel that set sail from Genoa 
on 30 August to join the Sumud Flotilla. An estimated 50,000 people 
filled the streets of the northern port in a massive show of support.

At a rally accompanying the departure, dockworkers issued a stark 
warning: that if Israel attacks the flotilla, they will block all goods 
bound for Israel and halt trade across Europe.

“If we lose contact with our boats, with our comrades, even for just 20 
minutes, we will shut down all of Europe," dockworker Riccardo Rudino said.

"Together with our union USB, together with all dockworkers, together 
with the entire city of Genoa."


      'Break the blockade'

Italy is the third largest supplier of arms to Israel after the US and 
Germany and the sixth largest arms exporter globally.

Genoa is a key Mediterranean shipping hub for Italy and the European 
Union, handling the equivalent of 2.74m containers 
<https://trans.info/en/container-traffic-spain-398141>in 2023.

According to the CALP, between 13,000 and 14,000 containers leave their 
region each year bound for Israel.

For that reason, Genoa’s port has become a flashpoint for protests 
against the use of Italian ports for arms shipments and dockworkers 
there have a strong history of taking direct action against wars they 
consider unethical.

In June, together with dockworkers in Marseille, they refused to load 
arms onto a ship bound for Israel.

Later in July, they coordinated with colleagues in the port of Piraeus 
in Greece to halt another shipment to Israel; and in August, they 
stopped a shipment destined for Qatar that would have eventually reached 
Sudan.

“In the face of states' inaction, it is up to us to shoulder the burden 
and break the blockade on Gaza. We want to do our part and show that if 
something needs to be done, it can be done,” said Jose Nivoi, a CALP 
dockworker now on board one of the vessels heading to Gaza, to the 
Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/explainers/gaza-flotilla-what-you-need-know-about-sumud>

The Gaza flotilla: What you need to know about 'sumud'

Read More » 
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/explainers/gaza-flotilla-what-you-need-know-about-sumud> 


The dockworkers see themselves as capable of disrupting the war economy 
in a way that might save lives on the ground.

Past actions, including blocking arms shipments to Saudi Arabia during 
the war on Yemen, have caused ripples in Italy’s foreign policy.

Niovi said: “I challenge anyone to load a pallet of weapons that kill 
children and then go home to eat with your own child. How could you 
stomach it? You can’t just do nothing to stop this barbarity.”

The port workers have faced serious consequences for their political and 
social activism.

In 2023, they faced prosecution for blocking the Bahri Yanbu and were 
accused of serious crimes, including criminal association and 
endangering transport safety.

The judge overseeing the case dismissed it, ruling that their actions 
were political protests.

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