New Delhi: On Friday, October 30, approximately 5,000 Indian dockworkers are responding to a global call for action against the war economy for which they often pay the ultimate price. Dockworkers across over a hundred ports and 22 countries are demonstrating by stopping work – ranging from a couple of hours to an entire day. This is taking place following the Istanbul Declaration at the third International Meeting of International Dock Unions, which issued a “militant call” for workers across the world to consciously refuse to “be accomplices in the transport of weapons and military material designed for the slaughter of the peoples”.The dockworkers protest on October 30. Photo: Special arrangementNarendra, general secretary of the Water Transport Workers Federation of India (WTWFI), told The Wire that by lunch hour, according to their own convenience, workers in all major Indian ports will participate. According to the Indian Labour Code, this is not a strike, but a demonstration, as a strike notice needs to be issued 14 days in advance. While workers are showing solidarity with a global movement, he also highlighted the importance of a message that will be delivered to the Indian government – workers will not be handling weaponised cargo. According to him, about 500 workers will participate from larger ports like Mumbai and Kochi, while a smaller port like Tuticorin will see about 200 workers.“The message going to the Indian government is that port and dock workers are not at war. We are not going to export weaponised cargo. We will not do anything to further war. We want world peace,” he said. “That is what we want to tell the Indian government.”He also spoke about the fact that workers are suspended between a world of different wars, as well as the vulnerability of seafarers, who are often first in the line of fire.“Due to this escalation in war, almost everyday there is something. Both the US and Israel are attacking Iran. There are the Houthis and Yemen, Ukraine and Russia,” he said. “And victims are on the ships. Fifty-one seafarers have died. Ports are not for war.”Narendra also emphasised the need to form a collective consciousness that is anti-war, commenting on what an achievement this day is.“In my opinion, a big number of Indian workers are joining. It’s very difficult to raise consciousness. Workers need to internalise what a war really is. And ideologically or politically, we have to reach them. I may not succeed a hundred percent, but even 25% is a big victory,” he said, adding that workers are so caught up in the daily rigmarole of the work that reaching them in this way is often a challenge.The dockworkers protest on October 30. Photo: Special arrangementThe WTWFI had earlier issued a statement in February 2024, four months into the genocide of Palestine by Gaza, that their member-workers would boycott any ships carrying ammunition to Israel.You can read more about this call to action and how dockworkers are responding here, here and here.