French dockworkers strike over budget measures and militarisation of ports
French ports are expected to be almost completely shut down on Friday as dockworkers join a 24-hour strike across 22 countries to protest against the use of ports for arms exports. French workers are also demonstrating against proposed measures in the country's draft budget.
Issued on: 30/10/2026 - RFI
Activity at Le Havre – France's largest container port – is expected to grind to a halt on Friday as dockworkers go on strike. AFP - ROBERT FRANCOIS
Friday's strike, originally called by dockworkers' unions in France, Italy, Greece, Spain's Basque country, Turkey and Morocco, is now backed by more than 25 unions in 113 ports.
The protest is expected to target major shipping hubs across Europe and beyond, including Le Havre, Dunkirk and Calais in France, Hamburg, Valencia, Algeciras, Piraeus and Genoa, as well as Morocco's Tangier Med and India's Nhava Sheva.
Organisers say it could disrupt more than 40 percent of Mediterranean cargo and $2 billion worth of freight.
In France, ports will be “95 percent shut down” on Friday, said Tony Hautbois, secretary-general of the CGT Ports and Docks union. Workers have been instructed not to load or unload any cargo.
The union represents 95 percent of dockworkers and 87.5 percent of all port-handling workers nationally.
Most terminals in France will not operate for 24 hours on Friday, said Jean-Frédéric Laurent, director-general of the French Ports Association.
Budget measures under fire
French ports handled 330 million tonnes of goods in 2025, accounting for between 7 and 8 percent of the European total.
Around 14,000 port workers, including 7,500 dockworkers, are affected by the strike call.
The union is protesting against measures in the French government's draft budget, which it says “destroy our solidarity systems”.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the union said it would also join a nationwide strike on 5 November, called by the CGT and other major trade union confederations representing public and private sector workers.
The unions are demanding an increase in the minimum wage and higher salaries rather than bonuses which don't contribute to social security coverage.
They say they are also mobilising to defend young people, the future of public education, social security, hospitals and pensioners.
Militarisation of ports
Friday's strike was initially called at European level by the European Dockworkers Council (EDC) and internationally by other dockworkers' federations, including in Turkey and India.
In May 2026, dockworkers' unions from 35 European countries published the so-called Istanbul Declaration refusing that port facilities "become a link in the chain" of wars by transporting weapons destined for war zones.
Italian harbours, with Genoa at the forefront, have played a leading role in protests against arms shipments, frequently blocking cargo shipments bound for Israel and for US military bases.
French dockers refuse to load cargo of machine gun parts bound for Israel
Over the 2021-2025 period, Europe became the world's biggest arms importer, data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute showed earlier this year.
"From planes to tanks, guns to bullets, explosives to ammunition, uniforms to boots, our ports have become replenishing and forwarding bases for war and genocide," unions said, announcing the strike.
Friday's strike, originally called by dockworkers' unions in France, Italy, Greece, Spain's Basque country, Turkey and Morocco, is now backed by more than 25 unions in 113 ports.
The protest is expected to target major shipping hubs across Europe and beyond, including Le Havre, Dunkirk and Calais in France, Hamburg, Valencia, Algeciras, Piraeus and Genoa, as well as Morocco's Tangier Med and India's Nhava Sheva.
Organisers say it could disrupt more than 40 percent of Mediterranean cargo and $2 billion worth of freight.
In France, ports will be “95 percent shut down” on Friday, said Tony Hautbois, secretary-general of the CGT Ports and Docks union. Workers have been instructed not to load or unload any cargo.
The union represents 95 percent of dockworkers and 87.5 percent of all port-handling workers nationally.
Most terminals in France will not operate for 24 hours on Friday, said Jean-Frédéric Laurent, director-general of the French Ports Association.
Budget measures under fire
French ports handled 330 million tonnes of goods in 2025, accounting for between 7 and 8 percent of the European total.
Around 14,000 port workers, including 7,500 dockworkers, are affected by the strike call.
The union is protesting against measures in the French government's draft budget, which it says “destroy our solidarity systems”.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the union said it would also join a nationwide strike on 5 November, called by the CGT and other major trade union confederations representing public and private sector workers.
The unions are demanding an increase in the minimum wage and higher salaries rather than bonuses which don't contribute to social security coverage.
They say they are also mobilising to defend young people, the future of public education, social security, hospitals and pensioners.
Militarisation of ports
Friday's strike was initially called at European level by the European Dockworkers Council (EDC) and internationally by other dockworkers' federations, including in Turkey and India.
In May 2026, dockworkers' unions from 35 European countries published the so-called Istanbul Declaration refusing that port facilities "become a link in the chain" of wars by transporting weapons destined for war zones.
Italian harbours, with Genoa at the forefront, have played a leading role in protests against arms shipments, frequently blocking cargo shipments bound for Israel and for US military bases.
French dockers refuse to load cargo of machine gun parts bound for Israel
Over the 2021-2025 period, Europe became the world's biggest arms importer, data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute showed earlier this year.
"From planes to tanks, guns to bullets, explosives to ammunition, uniforms to boots, our ports have become replenishing and forwarding bases for war and genocide," unions said, announcing the strike.
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