Workers take action against Israel at the port of Livorno in Italy
After a huge general strike for Palestine in Italy on Monday, workers at the Port of Livorno learned a US-Israeli linked ship was set to dock there. So they kept blockading the port and forced the ship to divert.
Leonardo is part of Potere al Popolo (Power to the People) party and was heavily involved in the action.
He spoke to Socialist Worker about the blockade, the general strike and the role the trade unions are playing around Palestine solidarity.
Q. What is the objective of the occupation of the port of Livorno?
When we mobilised for the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) strike on Monday, the national agenda was clear—block everything.
We had known for days about the arrival of the SLNC Severn, a US-flagged vessel, in our port. This vessel comes from Israel and is loaded with dual-use equipment and vehicles destined for the US’s Camp Darby, between Pisa and Livorno.
It had repeatedly turned off and on its maritime tracking systems, making its arrival date difficult to pinpoint.
Finally, we managed to track it and knew it would arrive the evening after the general strike.
Through the disruptive force of Monday’s general strike, in which thousands of people participated from 6am onward, we simply pushed toward the dock entrance. Ten thousand people occupied the port—particularly Molo Italia, the dock where the US ship was supposed to unload.
From there, we established a permanent protest to prevent it from docking. Negotiations then began with the authorities to force them to prevent it from docking. On Wednesday the government’s representative in the city publicly announced that the ship would not dock at the port of Livorno.
Q. Were the unions behind the action at Livorno, and are the bigger trade unions playing a role?
The USB union is undoubtedly at the heart of this struggle. The general strike on Monday attracted a turnout we haven’t seen in at least 15 years.
None of the three major unions, CGIL, UIL or CISL, joined the USB strike. CISL, once linked to the conservative Christian Democrats, spends its time licking the far right government’s boots.
The UIL, once linked to the Socialist Party, and the CGIL, linked before to the Communist Party, decided to hastily declare a general strike for 19 September. That was a week after USB had announced its own and was seen by many as an attempt to undermine USB’s call.
However, there is something very important to note, a sign of what is happening in the country. Thousands of workers from these three unions decided to strike on Monday.
In Livorno, many of the port workers at the heart of the entire struggle are members of the CGIL. And they decided to strike on both the 19 September and Monday to blockade the port along with the USB.
The workers demonstrate once again that they can see further than the union leaders.
Q. What do you think of Monday’s general strike? Has it energised the Palestine movement in Italy?
One million people took to the streets across Italy on Monday, with various ports, stations and highways blocked. Even in cities that had been politically dead for years, thousands of people took to the streets.
The important thing is that the people of Italy are waking up, after years of numbness.
Hundreds participated in the protest at the Livorno port, even in the following days when the strike was no longer on. People came during their lunch break, before starting work, or immediately after.
But the struggle continues. After officially learning that the American ship would not dock in our port, we dissolved the protest at the port.
We called a march, which once again drew a very large turnout. Starting from the port, it moved a few hundred meters, occupying an abandoned building near a major logistics hub for the movement of goods.
From here we are relaunching a permanent garrison, as is happening throughout the country.
It will serve to continue the fight against genocide and always with an eye on what is happening at the Global Sumud Flotilla.
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