https://iclfi.org/pubs/sparttalk/2026-dockaction
Mansa is joined by Toralf, a dockworker in Hamburg who organises with Hafenarbeiter für eine kämpferische ver.di (Dockworkers for a fighting ver.di), to discuss the realities of the international day of action by dockworkers which took place on 30 October. The action saw workers from 113 ports in 22 countries take part in rallies, strikes and pickets, but with uneven results. Toralf's experience speaks to the difficulty of mobilising workers when the questions of opposing war are not connected to the needs of workers on the job, and how the mistrust in the union leaderships and the left acts as an obstacle to workers' action. Our lesson for the left: while these actions are important, we must not overlook the immense obstacles which prevent them from becoming a real challenge to the powers that be.
