‘We will not work for war’: Genoa, Italy, union stops arms shipment

By Unione Sindacale di Base

July 31, 2025 – The Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) [rank-and-file union organization] today celebrates another significant victory in the fight against the arms trade in Italian ports. Thanks to the mobilization of dockworkers in Genoa and the international solidarity network that grows stronger each day after helping to block the Zim ship in June, we were informed today that the three containers carrying military equipment, destined for La Spezia and transported aboard the Cosco Pisces [ship], will not be unloaded in either Genoa or La Spezia.

The Evergreen company has decided to return the containers directly to the Far East, where they were initially loaded.

This decision marks a tangible result of union action and the pressure exerted by USB, which had announced a 24-hour work stoppage for Aug. 5 at the PSA Genova Pra’ terminal, firmly reiterating: “We will not work for war.”

From Greece to Liguria, as previously demonstrated with the support of French dockworkers, the network of dockworkers across Europe and the Mediterranean has shown that stopping war logistics is possible, legitimate and necessary. Protests by workers, from Brescia Montichiari to Genoa, continue to break the chain that fuels massacres and conflicts, through the collective tool of striking against the loading and unloading of weapons.

Together with Ceing, USB developed the manifesto “Labor Rejects War,” signed by dozens of associations, jurists, constitutional scholars and peace movement leaders, which affirms that military operations are not among the essential services protected by law. Striking for peace, for collective safety and for the respect of constitutional principles is not only legitimate, it is a moral duty.

With this victory, USB renews its commitment to this campaign, aiming to ensure that Italian ports do not become logistical platforms for international conflicts, but return to being places that serve communities, life and solidarity.

Therefore, USB Port of Genoa withdraws the 24-hour strike scheduled for August 5 at the PSA-GP Terminal and announces two days of international dockworker assembly against the war, scheduled for Sept. 26 and 27.

According to a report from the World Federation of Trade Unions, the USB action in Genoa follows an action July 14 at the Greek port of Piraeus. There, dockworkers and protesters blocked the unloading of a ship, the Ever Golden. The action was organized by the Container Handling Workers Union and the Communist Party of Greece, and succeeded in stopping the arms meant for Israel. These arms were moved to the Cosco-owned ship, Pisces, involved as described above.—- Workers World.