On October 30, the second "International Day of Action" for dockworkers, convened by Italy's Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) and allied unions, unfolded across the world. Per USB's October 26 notice and Reuters reporting on October 29, participation expanded from the original Europe and Mediterranean scope to 113 ports in 22 countries and territories, backed by more than 25 unions. Two demands stand out: opposition to civilian ports being used to move weapons and military equipment, and to the militarization of port infrastructure; and defence of dockworkers' labour rights and job security against automation-driven job losses.
Participation, however, is not the same as a full shutdown — intensity varied widely by country. Italy's transport ministry formally registered a nationwide 24-hour strike covering Genoa, Livorno, Trieste, Civitavecchia, Ancona, Ravenna, Gioia Tauro, Bari and Carrara, among others. France's CGT called 24-hour stoppages at roughly 24 ports and port areas including Le Havre, Dunkirk, Marseille-Fos, Rouen and Calais. In Greece, the unions at Piraeus container terminals 2 and 3 voted to join, with quay operations halted from 10:00 to 13:00 local time, regional and seafarer strikes running 24 hours, and Rafina, Lavrio, Patras, Igoumenitsa, Elefsina and Rio also affected. Turkey's Mersin and about 11 Indian ports including Nhava Sheva, Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata and Mumbai ran 24-hour actions; Tangier and Casablanca in Morocco stopped for up to two hours; Hamburg in Germany and Valencia and Algeciras in Spain were also on the participant list.
On impact, organizers estimate the action could touch more than 40% of Mediterranean cargo volumes and over USD 2 billion of goods; Italy's USB estimated some 40,000 containers could be delayed by a day. Industry consensus is that even a single day of stoppage can push Europe-lane schedules back three to five days, with vessels waiting after a 24-hour halt typically taking one to three days to clear — up to a week when weekend sailings compound it. Note that some figures are union claims: CGT's "95% of French ports at a standstill" is the union's own assessment, while a Genoa port spokesperson said local impact was expected to be limited. Actual delays should be judged against terminal and carrier notices.
North America saw parallel disruption. Per earlier guidance from the Pacific Maritime Association, about 250 port checkers at Los Angeles and Long Beach planned to strike on November 1, affecting eight terminals including APM, LBCT, TTI, Matson's C60, SSA and PCT; these personnel handle roughly 85% of Long Beach cargo and 33% of Los Angeles cargo. Actual execution and scope are subject to terminal and carrier notices — US-lane shippers should confirm gate-in and empty-return windows with their forwarders in advance.
Back to the China-Japan lane: China-Japan near-sea services are run by an independent fleet of smaller vessels calling Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao and Dalian alongside Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe. They do not transit Europe or the Mediterranean, are not on the strike list, and Japanese port operations remain normal. The latest available Shanghai Shipping Exchange Japan-lane reading, for October 23, shows Kansai at USD 326/TEU and Kanto at USD 335/TEU (reference rates), holding a narrow USD 326-340 band over the past month. What matters is not the strike itself but its knock-on effects. First, carriers may temporarily reallocate capacity to handle Europe-lane omissions and backlogs, so near-sea services that share tonnage could see slippage. Second, shippers running both Europe and Japan lanes should build seven to ten days of buffer into the Europe leg so a delay there does not hold an entire mixed consignment. Third, Japan's year-end logistics shutdown (December 29 to January 3) concentrates the December shipping window into mid-to-late November — book seven to ten days ahead and verify surcharge terms shipment by shipment.
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