PERSONALE COLLETTIVO
“Nothing personal—it’s all collective.”
The mobilizations that took place in the port and city of Livorno between late September and October 2025 represent one of the most intense chapters of labor struggle, anti-militarist activism, and international solidarity seen in the port city in recent years.
Between September 22 and 24, protesters and port workers occupied the operational area of Molo Italia, blocking access points and preventing the SLNC Severn—a U.S.-flagged vessel carrying weaponry—from docking. Leading the protests were the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), the Gruppo Autonomo Portuale (GAP), the “Livorno for Palestine” network, student groups, educators, and a vast number of local citizens. The unions and protesters denounced the nature of the cargo, coming at a time of extreme tension surrounding the genocide in Palestine and the Sumud Flotilla missions—which were sailing toward Gaza at the time with the goal of breaking the Israeli blockade. The blockade and the intensity of the protest forced the ship to abandon its plan to dock in Livorno. This event was a historic moment for the Italian port sector, demonstrating the capacity to halt the movement of war materiel.
Despite this outcome, the mobilization did not end; instead, it solidified into a permanent encampment at Varco Zara (Zara Gate). From this base, the protesters continued their actions, rallying around shared demands and ideals—most notably the rejection of rearmament and the rising cost of living linked to it. The encampment at Varco Zara thus became the headquarters for an anti-militarist movement, standing against war, rearmament, and the use of the port’s logistics to support international conflicts. The permanent protest site at Varco Zara remained active, hosting open public assemblies attended by workers from the port, railways, and airports, alongside supportive activists. The area became a local political hub, defined by regular meetings, public demonstrations, and acts of mobilization that became intertwined with broader trade union dynamics in the weeks that followed.
Under the slogan “Let’s block everything!”—and in close coordination with similar mobilizations by port workers in Genoa (CALP)—a series of general strikes, blockades, and occupations took place, targeting the railway station and the major highway connecting the city to Pisa and Florence. These events—the likes of which had not been seen for years—reaffirmed Livorno’s unique role and spirit as a “sensitive” port, a stage for labor and political struggles with a powerful symbolic impact both nationally and internationally.
Presented here is the sequence of events and the faces of those who took part in the protest. Nothing personal—it’s all collective.
