On 30 October, through strikes and mobilisations at more than 100 ports across Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa, dockworkers are strengthening the common struggle of workers against imperialist war and exploitation.

From the ports of the United States to those of India, this international coordination among trade unions represents an important achievement and a call to struggle for the working class in every country.

The significance of this strike reaches far beyond the port gates. It concerns all workers. Workers at key hubs of production and transport are coordinating their action, opposing the transport of military equipment and demanding that their labour serve the needs of the peoples. They bring to the fore the only force that, armed with its organisation, can put obstacles in the way of the imperialists’ war machine, the working class, which holds the production and distribution of wealth in its hands.

Dockworkers are giving their own answer to governments and all imperialist blocks and alliances, to the US, NATO and the EU, which demand that workers fall into line behind war aims serving the profits of capital. Workers in every country have every interest in joining forces and directing their struggle against their exploiters and the warmongering policies of their governments. The joint action of dockworkers in Greece and Turkey, together with their fellow workers in other countries, strikes a blow against nationalism and strengthens class and internationalist solidarity among workers.

Workers do not share the same homeland as their exploiters. On one side stands the homeland of industrialists, bankers and shipowners, who fill their coffers with enormous profits and enjoy the support of their state. On the other stands the homeland of workers, who experience the full brutality of capitalism: poverty, war, unemployment, crimes committed by employers, 13-hour working days and more.

Against the backdrop of the US–China confrontation and the conflict between the US, NATO and the EU on one side and Russia on the other, rivalries over markets, energy resources and transport routes heighten the danger of a generalised imperialist war. The New Democracy government, with the support of the parties of Euro-Atlanticism, is drawing the country deeper into these rivalries. Corporations are seeking a share of the spoils of war, while the people bear the risks of ports and other infrastructure being turned into launchpads for war and targets for retaliation. Involvement in war serves none of the interests of workers and the people!

We strengthen the front of struggle and expose who gains and who loses from this confrontation, with its war budgets and costed policy programmes.

Adapting the economy to the needs of war demands new sacrifices from workers. Arms spending and subsidies to corporations are financed by bleeding the people through taxation, cutting spending on social needs and intensifying work. This is why the struggle against imperialist war must grow stronger alongside the fight for wage increases, collective bargaining agreements, stable jobs, shorter working hours, health and safety measures, and universal, free public healthcare and education.

We resist attempts to impose “industrial peace” to intensify exploitation, as well as repression and authoritarian measures in workplaces and attempts to restrict trade union activity.

On 30 October, we strengthen the struggle to disengage Greece from imperialist wars and plans. The transport of military equipment through the country’s infrastructure must stop. Close the US–NATO bases and bring home the Greek military missions deployed abroad. We express our solidarity in practice with the Palestinian people and all peoples fighting to live freely in their own land.

PAME salutes the contribution of ENEDEP and the trade unions working to ensure the success of the strike. It calls on trade union organisations to support the strike actions and rallies with all their strength. To take similar initiatives in their own sectors and strengthen joint action in transport, energy, industry and metalworking, and in every workplace where production is subordinated to war plans.

This day concerns all workers! In every workplace, workers must rise up and organise actions and initiatives, so that workers do not become part of the war machine.

Let 30 October leave a strong legacy of organisation and internationalist action. Let us expand the ties between trade unions in different countries. Let more workers join the struggle, confident in their strength and maintaining a firm front against capital, governments and their imperialist alliances.

On 30 October, the dockworkers’ struggle joins forces with the school and university student rallies taking place that same day, strengthening the common struggle of workers and young people. The mass mobilisations across Europe express popular discontent with the rising cost of living and policies that sacrifice our needs.

Let us unite our struggles: Money for wages, housing, healthcare and education – no sacrifices for their profits and wars!

Let Friday 30 October be a day of mobilisation of the whole people! All out for the rallies in Elefsina, Lavrio, Thessaloniki, Patras, Igoumenitsa and Chalkida, and for the Piraeus-wide strike at the country’s largest port!

We carry the struggle forward with even greater determination, with the nationwide general strike on 25 November as the next major milestone!

Dockworkers don’t work for war!

Ports for the peoples and for peace – not bases for the imperialists!