EUROPEAN REGIONAL OFFICE
WORLD FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS
Eurof, the European Regional Office of the WFTU, strongly condemns the attempt to dismiss the Vice-President of the Swedish Dockers’ Union (Hamnarbetarforbundet), Erik Helgesson, for promoting a strike to block the transport of military equipment to and from Israel, in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Since the beginning of the genocidal operations of the State of Israel in the Palestinian territories, dockers all over the world, and especially in Europe, have carried out actions to block the transport of weapons, supported by the WFTU and the European Regional Office Eurof.
The decision of the Swedish trade union, taken in a referendum and with the approval of 68% of the trade union members, is a courageous and just decision that breaks the complicit silence of the European governments on the ongoing genocide and also responds to the recent decision of Sweden to join NATO.
EUROF – WFTU European Bureau expresses its full solidarity with the Swedish leader and the dockers and calls upon all WFTU member unions in Europe to express their full solidarity and to intensify their actions of struggle and blockade in support of the Palestinian people.
USB – Italy solidarity:
The USB dockworkers’ coordination present in many italian ports like Genoa, Trieste, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Palermo and Salerno wish to express its full solidarity with Eric Helgeson, vice-president of the Dockworker’ Union (Hamnarbetarforbundet) in Sweden, who has been noticed of dismissal by the employer company that manages the port of Gothenburg.
The company sued our colleague because the Swedish Dockworkers’ Union discussed to take a solidarity action regarding genocide in Palestine and, after membership referendum with a majority of 68%, decided a 6 days strike to block the transportation of war material to and from Israel from swedish ports.
The italian dockers stand fiercely by our brothers and sisters in Sweden as already done with dockers in Pireus who blocked a container with 22 tons of bullets goign to the port of Haifa last october.
USB Dockworkers’ claim to strenghten solidarity network amongs european dockers to prevent the slaughter of the Palestinian people and to stop loading and unloading of weapons in our ports going in any war in the world, like we did in 2019 in Genoa.
As we said in our struggle in Italy: “touching one of us is like touching everyone!”
USB sea and ports
ENEDEP – Greece solidarity:
CGT – France solidarity:
