1 00:00:00,066 --> 00:00:02,068 My name is José Nivoi. 2 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:04,920 I have been working in the port of Genoa since I was 21, 3 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:07,480 that is for 15 years. 4 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:12,680 In the last one a half that years  I've only been working for the trade union. 5 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:17,550 So I am a trade unionist and a spokesperson for the CALP. 6 00:00:23,240 --> 00:00:25,680 The CALP was founded in 2011, 7 00:00:25,992 --> 00:00:31,731 on 15 October, on the way back from a large demonstration in Rome, 8 00:00:32,399 --> 00:00:35,902 where there were large clashes against the Berlusconi government. 9 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:38,400 That was then. 10 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:41,560 And on the return  journey in the bus, 11 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:43,160 it was decided 12 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:47,480 that we needed to rebuild  the autonomous collective. 13 00:00:49,049 --> 00:00:51,253 And so we have resumed 14 00:00:51,787 --> 00:00:56,756 the practice of a militant trade union. 15 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:01,320 We have started up strikes again, 16 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:05,240 and also supported strikes by workers 17 00:01:05,398 --> 00:01:08,435 who do not have the same bargaining power as we have. 18 00:01:08,501 --> 00:01:09,803 So we have, for example, 19 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,833 supported the strikes by university professors 20 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:15,040 against the liberalisation of the school system, 21 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:17,720 or public health care. 22 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:22,080 And this way of acting has made us grow slowly, 23 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:23,840 ethically and morally, 24 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:28,000 over the last four years, 25 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:32,080 in which we have fought this great battle against the arms trade 26 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:34,800 in the ports of Genoa. 27 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:39,000 A battle which, however,  is spreading to Italy and Europe. 28 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:44,400 Let's close the ports for war. 29 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:46,920 We blockade the weapons, 30 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,280 because this is clearly an ethical and moral issue. 31 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:54,800 The idea of going to work, and using our work time 32 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:59,080 to load weapons that will kill thousands of people 33 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:04,200 in other states, theatres of war where we will never be - 34 00:02:04,257 --> 00:02:05,959 seems crazy to us. 35 00:02:06,025 --> 00:02:08,695 We do not want to become accomplices to these massacres. 36 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:12,680 We see these missiles explode in the theatres of war. 37 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,920 We think that the production is taking place in the West, 38 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,920 from the universities to the factories and, as a last frontier, 39 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:23,880 the ports and more recently also the airports. 40 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:28,960 To try to obstruct this, to obstruct this armament 41 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,000 can be one way of showing that there are people 42 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:37,280 who no longer believe in this capitalist logic, 43 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,520 or in the logic of those who make profits 44 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,600 by producing weapons. 45 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:49,400 Then there are other aspects, the question of security. 46 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,720 We are all trade union delegates in the CALP, 47 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:56,480 and therefore officially recognised by the workers. 48 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,320 So we started 49 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,000 certain kind of discussion 50 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:08,680 with the port authority about the fact that, at that moment, 51 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:11,040 when these ships arrive 52 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:15,240 loaded with missiles and explosives, 53 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:19,480 into a port like that of Genoa, which is in the belly of the city, 54 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,160 in the event of an accident there could be a problem! 55 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:23,840 We want to know 56 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:28,120 what is inside these ships, because what we see 57 00:03:28,174 --> 00:03:31,800 are armoured weapons, gunships, ammunition boxes. 58 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,960 What we do not see is what is inside the containers. 59 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,440 We know that there are explosives inside the containers 60 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,040 because of the labels that have to be on there due to international regulations. 61 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:47,720 But we are not told what is inside. 62 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,480 We also did a walk-through with the firemen, 63 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:56,600 who are responsible in case of a disaster or a fire. 64 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:00,560 They are also not given any information about the transit 65 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:04,400 of these types of ships, with the containers with the explosives. 66 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,800 To give an example: When there's a container with cobalt, 67 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:13,400 which is used for X-rays is therefore radioactive, 68 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:18,640 we're told that there's this many  kilos of cobalt inside this ship, 69 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:22,760 so that in the event of an accident they know where it is and what to do. 70 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,840 In case of weapons: total silence. 71 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,720 In the midst of this logic we continue our struggle. 72 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:35,640 We try to build the most disparate friendships! 73 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:39,360 On 23 June last year 74 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,400 we were invited by the Pope to denounce these very things. 75 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:48,240 So we really do everytning to stop the arms trade 76 00:04:48,280 --> 00:04:50,720 in the ports. 77 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:03,800 We are talking about a company that has 80 ships. 78 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,200 74 of which transport oil and liquefied gas, 79 00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:10,960 six of which transport military equipment. 80 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:15,640 On their website, they state this openly, 81 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:19,800 precisely because they have built six modern ships, 82 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:25,480 to bring weapons to these theatres of war where a classic military ship 83 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,160 such as the Italian navy would create problems, 84 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:34,600 diplomatic problems, if you have a ship there from country X unloading weapons. 85 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:39,320 With this ship, on the other hand it looks like some kind of sale of goods, 86 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:42,969 when it's actually carrying armaments to theatres of war. 87 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:45,160 It is a kind of ship that looks like a civilian ship, 88 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,080 but is used for military logistics. 89 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:54,360 Its' route leads from the USA via Northern Europe, Southern Europe 90 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:59,640 and then Iskender in the south of Turkey, 91 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,440 80 kilometres from the Syrian border, 92 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:05,360 and Jeddah, a Saudi Arabian port. 93 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:09,720 Then it also serves in other forgotten theatres of war, 94 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:13,120 as in India, with the question of the war in Kashmir. 95 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:15,680 And then there were other cases, 96 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,440 lucky chances where we identified a container with missiles, 97 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:24,120 that was en route to Israel in May last year. 98 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:27,360 That was a coincidence: 99 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:30,040 one of our comrades came to work 100 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:33,040 and saw this truck driver that was lost, 101 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:35,360 driving around the harbour. He stopped him and asked him 102 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:38,440 where he had to go to unload. 103 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:42,440 The lorry driver shows him the pass 104 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:45,840 and says: "I have been driving around here for three hours, 105 00:06:46,280 --> 00:06:48,160 at the risk of all of us all blowing up." 106 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,200 "I come from the Bergamo area, 107 00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:55,400 I have to load onto this ship the 'Asiatica Island' 108 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:57,200 and I have to go on board." 109 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:01,360 So he says, of all the dockers in Genoa, this has to happen to me. 110 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:05,560 It happens to one of the CALP members, he takes a photo of the document 111 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:08,680 and that's how we discovered that they were missiles 112 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:10,920 for Israel. 113 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,640 This was at the time of the  greatest aggression in Gaza, 114 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:19,160 so this has also created a diplomatic problem 115 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:23,400 between Italy and Israel, because we attempted this blockade 116 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:26,200 with the people in Livorno and Naples. 117 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:28,680 These were three large mobilisations. 118 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:32,240 But it was a stroke of luck, 119 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:36,360 So we don't really know, not really, 120 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:40,040 how many weapons pass  through the port of Genoa. 121 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,600 With the 'Bahri' we can see it because she has open decks 122 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,760 and because we can see with the naked  eye the M1 Abrams tanks, the Apaches, 123 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:51,960 everything they use in the theatres of war. 124 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:03,160 On 23 February last year, 125 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:06,280 at around four o'clock in the morning 126 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,040 there are five of us comrades - we are a collective 127 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,640 of 27 people, all from the port area -, 128 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:16,920 five of us, including me, we all heard the doorbell ring at home. 129 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:21,680 I thought it was a drunkard from the bars downstairs. 130 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,400 The classic, one who can't find the intercom. 131 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:29,840 Then I heard persistent ringing. 132 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:34,680 I look out of the window and there was this police line-up. 133 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:37,800 They wanted to get  into the flat. 134 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,800 They searched  the whole house 135 00:08:40,853 --> 00:08:45,157 looking for clues to support their theory 136 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:48,680 that we are a criminal organisation. 137 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:51,040 The law we were  supposed to have broken 138 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:56,640 is the subject of the blockade. 139 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:00,000 The interruption of the public supply route 140 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:02,440 in connection with the Bahri company, 141 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:04,440 which is not even a public utility, 142 00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:08,680 quite the opposite, it is private in all aspects. 143 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:13,640 But it was a way of cutting off the head of this movement, 144 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:17,720 that had begun to gain ground within the port. 145 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,480 They used against us the fact that we can 146 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:24,280 determine the economy of the port of Genoa. 147 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:29,960 By legally restricting  us like this, 148 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:35,160 as soon as you make a wrong step, or you have proof of their 149 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:40,200 actions, they will put you under special observation, 150 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:42,320 house arrest, or, in the worst case, prison. 151 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:46,520 We had not seen such a police action 152 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:49,840 since the days of the Diaz School 153 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:52,480 because about 70 policemen took part. 154 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:55,400 They took us down to the harbour where we had an office, 155 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:58,480 and a gym. 156 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:03,440 We used the gym for ourselves and for the young people 157 00:10:03,970 --> 00:10:06,405 who worked in the harbour, 158 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,600 we talk to them about our initiatives a little bit, they can train there, 159 00:10:09,680 --> 00:10:13,400 it was a free hall, with a boxing ring (we did Mai Thai and boxing). 160 00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:17,000 It was a way to get together and to be known. 161 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:22,320 They closed it down, they cleared us out, 162 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:27,160 and all this happened when we began to denounce the fact 163 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:32,800 that the Italian state does not respect the law 185 of 1990 164 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:36,840 and article 11 of the Constitution. 165 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:40,960 When we started this legal journey, 166 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:44,360 the repression came down on us like a cleaver. 167 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:47,560 Then we somehow got used to it, 168 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:51,400 because over the years we have always had a certain street practice 169 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:55,960 on the question of the closure of the headquarters of the fascists, 170 00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:58,960 of Casa Pound and Forza Nuova. 171 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:03,960 So it didn't worry us, but it also gave an impression 172 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:10,000 of how the state reacts when you touch supranational economic interests, 173 00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:13,720 because there are supranational interests when a state 174 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:16,120 no longer respects 175 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:18,760 its own constitution. 176 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:24,800 Article 11 says: 177 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:29,880 "Italy rejects war in all its forms and does not foment conflict, 178 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:34,600 it works for peace." - Beautiful article, which also has its weight. 179 00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:37,680 Law 185 from 1990 180 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,560 says in one of its' passages, 181 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,720 article 6, 182 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:48,880 that in Italy the transit of arms to countries 183 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:51,640 that have war as the ultimate solution is forbidden. 184 00:11:52,078 --> 00:11:56,382 So every war. War has only one way of being war: 185 00:11:56,449 --> 00:11:58,651 two states facing each other. 186 00:11:58,718 --> 00:12:01,987 We also have another case, which is very symbolic of the applicability 187 00:12:02,054 --> 00:12:06,025 of this law, namely the 'Banat' ship, which is the one in the picture. 188 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:09,440 There we decided to put the Banat ship in the picture 189 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:12,680 because in that case they did apply article 185 of the 1990 law. 190 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:17,000 In this case this ship, 191 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:21,160 which was escorted by the Turkish navy to the coast of Libya, 192 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:24,160 had brought armaments 193 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:28,400 for the defence groups connected to the ENI oil companies. 194 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:33,080 Because there the ENI groups and the Total groups are at war. 195 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:37,400 There are jihadist groups with links to the Total groups 196 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:42,080 and a jihadist group, which is linked to the ENI groups in Italy. 197 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:48,680 The weapons on this ship were for the ENI groups. 198 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:52,440 And after this ship had unloaded the weapons, 199 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:56,440 it set course for Genoa and switched off the GPS. 200 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,920 Internationally, ships are required to keep the GPS switched on. 201 00:12:59,960 --> 00:13:04,000 Because these are highways of the sea, so you have to know 202 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:07,280 where the ships are exactly. 203 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:12,560 The ship switches off the GPS and near the coast of Corsica 204 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:16,720 is intercepted by the French navy. That means by Total. 205 00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:19,720 The French navy reports to the European Union 206 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:22,320 that Italy has welcomed a ship 207 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:27,320 that supplies weapons to jihadist groups in Libya. 208 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:32,560 And asks why Italy, which is part of the EU, is supplying those groups. 209 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:36,280 In this case, when the ship arrives in Genoa 210 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:39,960 the whole world, the whole official Italy is anti-militarist. 211 00:13:41,487 --> 00:13:44,156 Seizure of the ship, arrests of the crew, 212 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:46,520 enforcement of the Act 185 of 1990. 213 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:50,040 However, they did this when no more weapons were on board. 214 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:54,080 This ship arrives at the exact moment we announce the arrival 215 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:56,984 of a Bahri ship. In the same way. 216 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:59,200 But for the Bahri ship the Law 185 is not applied. 217 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:03,520 It sails in calmly, unloads, loads and departs again. 218 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:06,160 With the other ship, on the other hand, 219 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:09,960 around which this political bubble had formed 220 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:14,320 the law 185 is applied. There is therefore a strong contradiction 221 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,840 with regard to the Italian policy on the arms trade. 222 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:23,560 There was also a case a few months ago 223 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,120 when a ship that left from La Spezia, 224 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:28,360 and via a triangulation 225 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:33,320 ammunition was sold to Panama, 226 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:37,920 from where it went to a port in Africa 227 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:42,160 and this port indicated that the international laws 228 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:46,000 on trade in armaments had not been respected. 229 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:48,297 So the ship was confiscated. 230 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:50,480 And it sailed from an Italian port! 231 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:54,840 Italian ports are a kind of hub 232 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,920 for armament in North Africa or in the Middle East. 233 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:11,720 We have been organising for a year now, 234 00:15:13,112 --> 00:15:14,046 an attempt, 235 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:17,680 - we have to see if it works then -, 236 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,160 the attempt of an international strike 237 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:26,120 against the arms trade or against the fact 238 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:30,280 that civilian ports are used to transport arms 239 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:34,480 to the various theatres of war as if nothing had happened. 240 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:36,840 In the last year we have therefore 241 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:41,040 worked together with different antimilitarist 242 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:43,160 and pacifist associations. 243 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:45,360 At European and international level. 244 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:48,720 Of course, this all started 245 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:52,360 after the various blockades that we made in Genoa, 246 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:58,080 which brought us into the focus of the anti-militarist world. 247 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:02,720 This enabled us to enter into dialogue with all these groups. 248 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:07,520 If what we did in Genoa in 2019 249 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:12,160 happens at an international level, 250 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:14,080 then it would show, 251 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:19,040 that the foreign policy of some countries is not desired. 252 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:23,280 Because in 2019, when we blocked the Bahri ship, 253 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:27,400 it was decided that in the port of Genoa 254 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:30,400 no more weapons are to be shipped 255 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:34,880 to the theatres of war which we have listed before. 256 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:39,000 We think and hope that if this goes international 257 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:41,680 the same effect will be created. 258 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:44,840 We are orienting towards October, 259 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:49,360 beginning of October and the end of September. 260 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:53,640 We hope that in the port of Genoa in the port of Livorno, Trieste, 261 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:58,120 San Francisco, Hamburg, Piraeus and Marseilles 262 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:03,040 a dockers' strike will take place on the subject of anti-militarism.