'Choose your side': Italian unions launch nationwide strike over genocide in Gaza
'Choose your side': Italian unions launch nationwide strike over genocide in Gaza
Unions and pro-Palestine activists in Italy are holding a nationwide strike to protest Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Organisers for the day of action on Monday condemned the Italian government and European Union's complicity in the atrocities on Palestinians in the besieged Strip.
They also voiced support for the Global Sumud Flotilla, 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 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 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.
A video circulating online shows an Italian dockworker warning that if communication is lost with the Gaza flotilla that set sail from Genoa on Sunday, port workers will immediately block all shipments to Israel pic.twitter.com/Q38rfE3pVx
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) September 2, 2025
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.
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.
