Jan 6, 2026 The Italian workers union USB and it’s dockers section representative Francesco Staccioli reported on the international call for action against military weapons to Israel, against militarism and attacks on the working class on February 6, 2026. They reported on the attacks on the unions and Palestinian activists as well as the need to fight fascism. They also talked about the threat of AI and the militarization of the ports of Europe as the capitalists massively increase military spending. He reports that you cannot fight AI while ignoring the militarization of the ports and the shipment of weapons to Israel. He particularly urges the ILWU and ILA to join them when they take action in a general strike on the February 6th. This interview was done on 16/25 Additional Media: Italian USB Union Report To US Workers On Italy Gen Strike Against Militarization & For Palestine • Italian USB Union Report To US Workers On … Additional Links USB Union www.usb.it WorkWeek / workweek-radio Labor Video Project www.labormedia.net
0:05
5 secondsThis is Steve Zeltzer with Work Week and we have been covering the struggles of Italian workers, doc workers and others
0:14
14 secondsaround the issue of solidarity against the genocide in Palestine, also against militarism and the attack on the Italian
0:23
23 secondsworking class. and one of the unions that’s been leading the struggle in Italy to take action, direct action uh
0:31
31 secondsagainst the genocide and also militarization and also the attack on the working class is the USB. And
0:38
38 secondsjoining us today is Francisco Stacey and he’s a dock worker and representative of the USB. Welcome to our show.
0:46
46 secondsHello everybody. Good evening. Good morning for you. Good evening for me for for me in Italy and very glad to be here.
0:54
54 secondsGood. So, Francisco, why don’t you talk about your union’s call for February 6th? You are organizing now uh in the in
1:02
1 minute, 2 secondsthe working class there. What are the issues that have brought your union to the conclusion you have to take another general strike action?
1:08
1 minute, 8 secondsFirst of all, I’m sorry for my English is not that good, but I I’ll try to do my best. Anyway, uh um we call for a a a
1:19
1 minute, 19 secondsday of struggle among Meditarian international doc workers starting from
1:25
1 minute, 25 secondsthe declaration of Genoa. uh we that we subscribed on the 26th of September, the
1:33
1 minute, 33 secondslast September which talk about uh P free of weapons
1:40
1 minute, 40 secondsfrom stop um wars, stop arming, stop genocide, stop rearming Europe and um to
1:51
1 minute, 51 secondsstop the militarization of the European ports which is actually a a steady program of the European Ian Union. Uh I
1:59
1 minute, 59 secondswe think we sought and we still think that the international solidarity is no
2:05
2 minutes, 5 secondsmore an option is a a must oblig path where we where we have to go in in a
2:15
2 minutes, 15 secondsworld that is uh collapsing a in in new imperialism as
2:21
2 minutes, 21 secondswe can see what happened in Venezuela last 3rd of October. So the 6th of February, the call of 6th of February is
2:30
2 minutes, 30 secondsmade by Italian, Greece, um, Moroccan, uh, Turkish and Spanish dur workers especially from Pisbaski from Muscadi.
2:42
2 minutes, 42 secondsUh, they are focus on say we have to stop loading or unloading the any
2:50
2 minutes, 50 secondsweapons from the ports. We have to stop the genocide. We have to make a real embar we ask for a real embargo of
2:59
2 minutes, 59 secondsIsrael and we uh want to stop the foolish rearmment plan of the European
3:08
3 minutes, 8 secondswhich is among around 8 800 billions of euro of new
3:18
3 minutes, 18 secondsweapons and money is taken away from public services and putting in new armaments That’s what we are calling and
3:26
3 minutes, 26 secondswe hope that other many ports will join us on that day. We have uh now groups
3:34
3 minutes, 34 secondsfrom Amber port that are answering the the call and they joined
3:41
3 minutes, 41 secondsthe the six the struggle of the sixth of February and they are waiting for others. We think that as even in USA we
3:49
3 minutes, 49 secondswe would like to see ports in USA that will join us in the struggle that day
3:57
3 minutes, 57 secondsand the militarization of Europe uh is uh I think one of the demands of uh Trump and the US government. Uh they’ve
4:06
4 minutes, 6 secondsdemanded that Europe militarize and then buy weapons from the United States. Is your union concerned about the threat of a world war that that what we’re going
4:14
4 minutes, 14 secondstowards is another world war and and also the rise of fascism against the working class in Italy, the working class in the United States? I I think
4:22
4 minutes, 22 secondsthat uh I mean our trade union is very concerned about what’s happening all
4:29
4 minutes, 29 secondsover the world is and is we think that the genocide is the same system that is
4:39
4 minutes, 39 secondskilling Palestinian people is carrying on the genocide is the one attacking
4:47
4 minutes, 47 secondsthe count the countries is the one um taking off money from the the health
4:55
4 minutes, 55 secondsservices, the the instruction services and putting in new armaments is the same that
5:03
5 minutes, 3 secondsmake the exploitation of workers and exploitation of the war. It’s the same system. It is the two faces of the same
5:12
5 minutes, 12 secondsmedal. Uh we are very concerned about what is happening in Europe where uh we
5:18
5 minutes, 18 secondsare uh our European Union governments most of them are bringing us in a new
5:27
5 minutes, 27 secondsworld war. We are very concerned about what Trump is do actually doing and
5:33
5 minutes, 33 secondsbecause Trump has obliged the the all the NATO countries to rise the amount of
5:41
5 minutes, 41 secondsthe uh the the participation to the armaments from uh first to the 2% of the
5:49
5 minutes, 49 secondsuh the pro the the the product income then raising to the 5%. That means that
5:55
5 minutes, 55 secondsItaly by itself will spend in 5 years more than 100 billions euro
6:04
6 minutes, 4 seconds100 billion in armaments. We don’t have this 100 million euros. So we must take
6:12
6 minutes, 12 secondsit away from our uh health services which is very bad actually. is worsening
6:19
6 minutes, 19 secondsevery day more and taking away from and taking away from the wages from the
6:26
6 minutes, 26 secondssalary and this is why uh we are very concerned about the impoverishment of the people of the working class this is
6:35
6 minutes, 35 secondswe are very concerned in this in this moment in Europe is happening mostly the
6:41
6 minutes, 41 secondssame thing half of the people won’t get to vote anymore and In Europe we used to vote a lot
6:50
6 minutes, 50 secondsespecially in Italy we used to have 80% of the population going to vote and half of them is voting fascist and we are uh
6:59
6 minutes, 59 secondswe have Melon in the government since 2022 and we will see that in France and in
7:10
7 minutes, 10 secondsGermany I am afraid they will the next election will be won by right very rightwing
7:18
7 minutes, 18 secondssemi metafascist parties and of course Italy has national healthc
7:25
7 minutes, 25 secondscare and a friend of mine a comrade of mine was broke her leg in Italy uh she went to the hospital for a week and a
7:32
7 minutes, 32 secondshalf no charges in the United States today workers millions of workers are losing their health care so what you’re
7:40
7 minutes, 40 secondssaying this militarization uh the trillion dollar budget the United States passed for the war machine is going to come out of the working class out of
7:49
7 minutes, 49 secondsattacks on working people in the United States and and that is one of the reasons you are fighting against this militarization.
7:55
7 minutes, 55 secondsYeah, that’s right. This is one of the main reason is that this this the war is one is going to help the
8:04
8 minutes, 4 secondscapitalism. It’s going to help this this this kind of system a global a global
8:10
8 minutes, 10 secondssystem which is in crisis and this war will be paid by the poor people.
8:18
8 minutes, 18 secondsPoor people that will be killed by the war and the poor people that will have less wages. They have a less services.
8:25
8 minutes, 25 secondsthey have less destruction. This is a dream for the capitalism. This is a big dream for capitalism and we don’t want
8:32
8 minutes, 32 secondsit anymore. That’s why we we launch a a we have the the launch the the call for
8:40
8 minutes, 40 secondsan international day because it’s not more any problem of one country. This is problem of the world world especially of
8:48
8 minutes, 48 secondsthe our continent which is which was used to have health services
8:55
8 minutes, 55 secondswhich was used to have free instruction which was used to have public services.
9:01
9 minutes, 1 secondWe are losing most of them and we don’t want to lose it. We don’t want to transfer our um our money to the rich as
9:10
9 minutes, 10 seconds[laughter]
9:11
9 minutes, 11 secondsas happening right now. That’s why we are calling and this why we are very looking we are looking forward to have
9:20
9 minutes, 20 secondsinternational solidarity around this this this idea. If we stop
9:28
9 minutes, 28 secondsarmaments we put in very in serious difficulties peace system. If we stop
9:36
9 minutes, 36 secondswares, we stop uh ports and we stop logistic strategic infrastructures, we
9:43
9 minutes, 43 secondsput in difficulties this this kind of system and the long shore and the ILU
9:51
9 minutes, 51 secondsuh and also the ILA on the east coast, the IL is on the west coast. Um and you’re appealing to these unions and
9:59
9 minutes, 59 secondsrank and file members to take similar action on February 6th with you. We are trying to connect with the trade unions
10:07
10 minutes, 7 secondsor groups of trade inside the trade unions because it’s not easy for most of
10:14
10 minutes, 14 secondsthe big trade unions get free from this system. Okay, they are uh comply with this system. Okay, they accomplish with
10:23
10 minutes, 23 secondsthis system. But we hope that the from from below the dock workers and many
10:31
10 minutes, 31 secondsother workers start to push them to stop the complicity with the war traffic with
10:38
10 minutes, 38 secondsthe weapon traffic and to start uh fighting for uh stopping this uh awful
10:46
10 minutes, 46 secondsrun to a new world war, this awful run to a new imperialism to this awful run to genocide.
10:54
10 minutes, 54 secondsall the people or to uh attack countries we don’t like. This is what we we would
11:00
11 minuteslike we really like to do is to call to them and say think about it. This is is
11:07
11 minutes, 7 secondsa good way to start. The 6th of February is not any hand of anything. It’s just the first step is the beginning.
11:16
11 minutes, 16 secondsAnd one other question I have, there was just an international conference of dock workers in in Europe. uh in in Portugal
11:24
11 minutes, 24 secondson the issue of AI, artificial intelligence, and AI is a a threat to workers all over the world. They want to
11:32
11 minutes, 32 secondshave automated ports. They want to have automated ships. And in San Francisco, they have automated cars, autonomous
11:39
11 minutes, 39 secondscars, getting rid of drivers. uh this issue of AI. Do you think you can have a defense of the working class with the
11:47
11 minutes, 47 secondsintroduction of artificial intelligence uh by the capitalists into workplaces?
11:54
11 minutes, 54 secondsThis is a a big question but I what we what we think is that we
12:01
12 minutes, 1 secondfollow from distance. We were invited the big conference they had in Lisbon
12:08
12 minutes, 8 secondsabout know the stop the machine. It was something like this. It was it was called
12:15
12 minutes, 15 secondsum most of all by ELA. No, the the boss of ELA. I don’t remember the name.
12:20
12 minutes, 20 secondsInternational Long Shoreman’s Association.
12:23
12 minutes, 23 secondsThis is the LA say stop the machine, stopization. We have we want to lose the job. Um
12:32
12 minutes, 32 secondsyou miss another part. I I could agree that we have to handle the modernization
12:39
12 minutes, 39 secondsof the port. It’s uh you you you we should help to to make it better for everyone.
12:48
12 minutes, 48 secondsBut if you claim for stopping the automat the autoat automatization
12:56
12 minutes, 56 secondsbut you let the militarization of the poll which is actually happen all over
13:03
13 minutes, 3 secondsthe world is ab absolutely useless because the milit militarization of
13:09
13 minutes, 9 secondssports means stop strikes reducing trade unions freedom
13:17
13 minutes, 17 secondsreducing the possibility of uh to claim better wages or to claim to stop the
13:25
13 minutes, 25 secondsautomatication. If you see one only one half of the problem and you see that the other half is going to be a problem. If
13:34
13 minutes, 34 secondsyou if you claim stop automat automatation, I say stop making new work
13:41
13 minutes, 41 secondsports the the way the old United States weapons goes to Israel. This is what you
13:49
13 minutes, 49 secondsand then you will have the first really fight the real the first real struggles against automatization
13:57
13 minutes, 57 secondsand the Maloney government now is attacking your union and other unions for having strike action, work action.
14:05
14 minutes, 5 secondsWhat can workers in the United States do to support your struggle to defend your union and other workers in Italy? One of
14:12
14 minutes, 12 secondsthe the what is happen in Italy is that they are starting to make a crime to be
14:19
14 minutes, 19 secondsagainst no to be against them. They start with funing us for
14:26
14 minutes, 26 secondsmore or less 50,000 50,000 euro. They start putting in jail
14:33
14 minutes, 33 secondssome leader of the Palestinian movement in Italy because they have they presume they have finance amas uh force which is
14:44
14 minutes, 44 secondsnot true because this was a just solidarity. What the the the United States workers can do is first of all
14:52
14 minutes, 52 secondsget in touch with us and get help us to create a big solidarity networks among
15:00
15 minutesdoc workers and any workers. Second is to uh we have we uh start um a campaign
15:09
15 minutes, 9 secondsor fundraising campaign that you can find in our in our website which is just usb.it.
15:19
15 minutes, 19 secondsyou can find is our fundraising which will help us to pay first of all the
15:25
15 minutes, 25 secondsfine and then to support the dock workers that refuse to load weapons on
15:35
15 minutes, 35 secondsvessel. We have many of our members and many of our doc workers in all over uh
15:44
15 minutes, 44 secondsItalian ports that are refusing to load the weapons. Every time they refuse to load the weapons is like a day of
15:52
15 minutes, 52 secondsstrike. They are not paid by the company. So we need money to let them uh
16:00
16 minutesum keep refusing loading weapons which is our big effort because this is very
16:08
16 minutes, 8 secondsdisturbing for the company. This is very disturbing for the institution. This is very disturbing for the governments. And
16:16
16 minutes, 16 secondsif we understand that is a single man that stop loading one single weapon starts to put
16:24
16 minutes, 24 secondsin crisis this system this scaling hundred of thousand of people and is put
16:32
16 minutes, 32 secondsis is carrying our world in a war we will be ready to fight back what they are doing to us. Now, this fascist
16:40
16 minutes, 40 secondsgovernment, Maloney, you’re concerned and you’re getting ready for elections that may return more fascist to to government. Why don’t you talk about how
16:49
16 minutes, 49 secondsthe working class has to prepare against fascism?
16:52
16 minutes, 52 secondsFirst of all, we have to realize that this is our present. This is what is happening to us and that we especially
17:00
17 minutesin Europe, I say the next election will be won by fascist. is very probable. And then the social democracy is in crisis
17:10
17 minutes, 10 secondsin this moment in in uh because people don’t believe anymore to want that they
17:18
17 minutes, 18 secondswant they say they wanted to help the the workers instead they helped the the owners of the the industrial people.
17:27
17 minutes, 27 secondsWhat we uh what we can do is we get we have to get ready and we have to be prepared to to fight. We have to prepare
17:35
17 minutes, 35 secondsto stand. We have to prepare to create real solidarity connection between
17:42
17 minutes, 42 secondsworkers, between citizen to stay on the square, to stay to to to stay together
17:49
17 minutes, 49 secondsand what we have and we and as I said before when we understand all every
17:56
17 minutes, 56 secondssingle thing we can do even not loading a weapons on a vessel, not doing things that could help these people stay over
18:05
18 minutes, 5 secondsthere and to keep criticize this system, we start to put them in crisis. And and
18:13
18 minutes, 13 secondsI’m sure that if we get international connection, international solidarity, we can put them in crisis.
18:21
18 minutes, 21 secondsWant to thank you very much for joining us. Uh Francisco, we’ve been talking with Francisco Stasioli. He is with the USB union, Doc Workers Union in Italy.
18:31
18 minutes, 31 secondsis speaking to American workers and workers all over the world to join with them on February 6th when they have an
18:38
18 minutes, 38 secondsan international action uh to stop military cargo to Israel against militarization and for the defense of the working class. So, thanks for joining us.
18:47
18 minutes, 47 secondsThank you very much. I’m sorry for my English, but I hope let me understand.
