Protest at the Genoa port by USB workers. Photo: USB
As the genocidal war conducted by the Zionist state of Israel against Gaza enters its second month, trade unions in Europe have stepped up their solidarity with Palestine.
On November 9, in a joint statement, the dock workers and transport workers affiliated with the Unione Sindicale di Base (USB) in Italy, Nakliyat Is union in Turkey, ENEDEP-COSCO Dockers Union of Greece’s Piraeus Port, and several other Maritime Unions in Greece, made a call to “stop the massacre in Gaza” and to “stop the transport of death”. The unions have demanded the governments of their countries stop the transfer of arms from its ports and stop support to Israel which is murdering the people of Palestine.
In their joint statement, the trade unions have said “We cannot tolerate the loading and unloading operations of ships, planes, etc. carrying weapons into the conflict or providing logistical services to it, to help feed a system that slaughters thousands of innocent people, especially women and children, every day.”
“The history of transport workers has always been clearly on the side of peace, against fascism, racism, against any occupation and oppression of peoples. For this reason, we cannot tolerate the transformation of the ports, airports, ships, and trains of Europe into centers of trafficking of death,” added the unions.
On November 10, hundreds of trade unionists including the port workers affiliated with the USB and the Autonomous Collective of Port Workers organized a demonstration in Genoa in solidarity with Palestine. The workers have also announced that they “refuse to load, to work the ships of the Israeli cargo shipping company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services which act as a vector for the shipment of armaments to Israel. Meanwhile, on the same day, hundreds of trade unionists in the UK under the banner of Workers For A Free Palestine blocked the entrance to the BAE Systems factory site in Rochester, Kent, which reportedly provides components for military aircraft used in the ongoing bombing in Gaza. On October 31, activists from Palestine Action blockaded the road to the headquarters of Elbit Systems in Bristol, notorious for manufacturing parts for Israeli drones and other pilotless aircraft.
On October 30 in Denmark, activists from the Communist Youth of Denmark (DKU), blocked all entrances to the Søborg plant of the Danish arms company, Terma, in protest against its sale of weapons and equipment to the Israeli Defense Forces.
Earlier, transport unions in Belgium including the Belgian Union of Transport Workers (BTB), BBTK, ACV-Transcom, and ACV Puls also issued a joint statement announcing their resolve to refuse loading or unloading weapons in transit to Israel, which are destined for the genocidal war against the Palestinians.
As of now, in the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza by Israel, including hospitals and refugee camps, more than 11,000 people have been killed, more than 27,000 people were injured and around 1.5 million people have been displaced.
