Unions at More Than 40 European and Mediterranean Ports Plan Joint Strike: Eight Italian Ports Set to Shut Down First on October 30

On October 15, 2026, Italian trade unions USB and ORSA Porti held a press conference in Rome to announce the list of Italian ports participating in an international joint strike scheduled for October 30.

According to Shipping Italy, the eight Italian ports involved are Ancona, Civitavecchia, Genoa, Gioia Tauro, Livorno, Ravenna, Salerno and Trieste.

The unions said the participating organizations represent port workers across more than 40 ports in the Mediterranean and Europe. The affected ports collectively handle approximately 40% of the Mediterranean's container throughput, equivalent to around 3 million TEU.

The action is being coordinated by the international trade union network Ports in Action. Participating organizations include France's CGT Ports and Docks, Greece's ENEDEP, the Basque Country's LAB, Turkey's Liman-İş, Morocco's ODT, Italy's USB and ORSA Porti, and India's Water Transport Workers Federation.

Their demands include opposing the use of ports to transport weapons and military equipment, resisting port militarization and job losses caused by automation, and calling for better wages and improved working conditions.

Piraeus Port in Greece Also Confirms Strike Participation

In Greece, ENEDEP, the dockworkers' union at the Port of Piraeus, voted in favor of joining the October 30 strike at a general assembly on September 29.

Its demands focus on higher wages, social security protections for workers engaged in physically demanding and hazardous jobs, and improved workplace safety.

ENEDEP President Markos Bekris said at the assembly that handling military cargo exposes ports and their workers to the risks of war.

Piraeus is a major transshipment hub in the Mediterranean. Its participation means the potential disruption to regional container transshipment could extend beyond Italy.

Disruptions Could Extend to Inland Logistics

The strike may spread beyond port terminals to inland transport operations.

According to Shipping Italy, USB's private-sector transport division has decided to fully support the mobilization of port workers. Logistics workers, freight transport workers and some local public transport employees are also expected to participate.

USB has further expanded the action into a nationwide general strike covering multiple sectors across both the public and private economies.

For international logistics chains, terminal handling and inland transportation are closely interconnected. If operations are suspended at major container hubs such as Genoa and Gioia Tauro, while truck transport is also disrupted, container pickup and return, cargo handovers and onward transshipment could all face knock-on delays.

Industry Outlook

With October 30 approaching, shippers and freight forwarders handling direct shipments or transshipment cargo through Italian ports—particularly Genoa, Gioia Tauro and Trieste—as well as Greece's Port of Piraeus, should contact their shipping lines in advance to confirm whether scheduled vessel calls will proceed as planned.

They should also verify whether trucking arrangements and customs clearance procedures can still be carried out as scheduled.

If terminal operations are interrupted, cargo already at port could incur accumulating port storage and container detention charges. For time-sensitive shipments, businesses should assess whether rerouting through alternative ports or postponing departure would be feasible.