Italian Workers Strike Against War and Militarization

The Italian grassroots trade union Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) launched a general strike on Friday, June 20, to escalate national mobilization against armament and war. Echoing a slogan from broader peace campaigns – “Abbassate le armi, alzate i salari” (“Lower the weapons, raise the wages”) – striking workers aiming to expose the consequences of Europe’s, and more specifically Italy’s, growing military-industrial agenda, including more cuts in the region’s public services.

“This is a strike against war and rearmament, but also against the devastating militarization of the economy and society,” USB stated ahead of the strike. “Every euro invested in weapons is one less for education, healthcare, public research, transportation, and wages. Every factory converted to war production is a factory taken from civil, ecological, and sustainable development. Every job ‘created’ in the arms industry fuels death.”

Despite frequent political claims about job creation through militarization, USB pointed out that even these promises are overstated. According to the union, the defense sector relies heavily on automation and artificial intelligence to boost profits, and less so on flesh-and-blood workers. As a result, production processes are highly vertical and exclusive, obstructing the redistribution of wealth. “On the contrary,” USB warned, “they concentrate profits in the hands of a few, mostly private, actors, while relying on substantial public funding.”

Leonardo: a case study of Europe’s defense industry

One of the clearest examples of how the military industry functions, according to progressive trade unions and media, is Leonardo: Italy’s largest arms producer and currently one of the top defense companies in the whole continent. Once involved in civilian industry as Finmeccanica, Leonardo has shifted almost entirely toward military production, generating billions in profit annually. Although the Italian state owns 30% of the company, over 50% is controlled by international investment funds, banks, and similar actors who benefit from the many armed conflicts in the world.

The government led by Giorgia Meloni continues to justify support for defense manufacturers like Leonardo with the same claims about employment USB debunked in its call to action. That such claims are not based in reality is confirmed by Leonardo’s own example. As USB reports, the group has cut approximately one-quarter of its Italian workforce in the past 15 years despite record profits. “Leonardo’s massive output of weapons doesn’t even yield significant benefits for our economy,” the report noted.

Complicity in Israel’s war crimes

Importantly, Leonardo’s involvement in Israel’s genocide in Gaza has added urgency to the union’s strike. The company develops and produces key weaponry used by Israeli forces, including armored vehicles involved in the destruction of Palestinian homes and components for F-35 fighter jets. “Italy – our labor, our taxes – is directly complicit in a colonial and genocidal war, with institutions, political parties, and the media remaining complicit and silent,” USB declared. “We are striking because we want wages, rights, peace, and social justice, not bombs, tanks, and drones that bring death.”

Scioperare contro il riarmo: una scelta che abbiamo fatto in tanti, un segnale di speranza e di lotta per tutto il paesehttps://t.co/7lHUa5YWsv pic.twitter.com/VO1uriTyPo

— USB Sindacato (@usbsindacato) June 20, 2025

As a result, on June 20, workers protested in front of Leonardo’s facilities in Rome, Naples, Turin, Florence, and Catania. Actions also took place in other localities and companies tied to the supply of arms to Israel during the genocide, including the port of Genoa. “Today, while Gaza is being devastated by Israeli bombings, while entire neighborhoods are being leveled and tens of thousands of civilians are dying under the rubble, Italy continues to sell weapons to Israel,” USB wrote on the day. “Leonardo S.p.A., which is largely state-owned, is a key player in this chain of death. It is complicit through its direct arms deliveries, advanced technologies, long-standing partnerships, and its central role in Italy’s war-oriented industrial model.”

The general strike took place a day ahead of a national peace and disarmament rally in Rome, titled “Disarmiamoli!” (Let’s disarm them!). Through the demonstration, USB is joining workers, activists, and campaigners from across the country to call for a halt to rearmament, an end to the genocide in Palestine, and investments in wages and public services. “This will be a space where workers will be able to express their opposition to militarization, to NATO, to genocide, and in support of finally raising weapons in our country,” USB concluded.

The general strike recorded high adherence particularly in sectors including public transport – where it reached 80% in some localities – railways (up to 90%), and logistics, as 80% of Genoa’s dockworkers joined the strike.

Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch