Thursday, March 12, was an important day of action against war and military logistics in Tuscany. Military vehicles and containers of war materials unloaded from the naval vessel Severine at the port of Piombino were loaded onto a train bound for Palmanova, Friuli, with a planned route through the stations of Livorno Centrale, Livorno Calambrone, and Pisa Centrale before continuing on to Florence, Bologna, and the Northeast. Since the port of Piombino does not have a railway dock, the loading operations were carried out using the quay and yards of the JSW Steel steelworks, along with the labor of local companies (Piombino Logistics, Bertozzi, and JSW Steel), as well as Mercitalia railway staff. This workforce was closely monitored by law enforcement, according to reports. This unacceptable involvement of civilian workers immediately raised alarm among those opposed to the war and prompted the provincial branch of USB to call an immediate strike in the companies involved. But what was truly significant was the widespread mobilization that erupted, involving activists, anti-militarists, workers, students, and citizens.
Throughout the day, the train's route was monitored actively and militantly, with actual actions blocking its progress. The USB grassroots union organized a protest at 2:00 PM at the Livorno Calambrone station, involving various political and social groups in the city, which lasted approximately three hours. The train never reached Livorno; it was diverted onto an internal line, which only carries goods, including military cargo, the Vada-Pisa line, which also passes through Collesalvetti, where a small group of protesters staged protests as the train passed. Thus, to avoid the protests in Livorno, the train carrying the weapons had to make a detour, causing significant delays and slowdowns, so much so that it only arrived at Pisa Centrale station around 7:00 PM.
In short, according to the official schedule, the arms train was supposed to pass through Livorno around 1:00 PM and through Pisa around 1:20 PM. However, it never passed through Livorno, evidently fearing roadblocks. On the Collesalvetti detour, it encountered a protest group, and it only arrived in Pisa at 7:00 PM, only to... stop at 5:00 PM. Indeed, the afternoon boycott at Livorno's stations, thanks to the delays and the time gained by these actions, gave Pisan activists, particularly those from the No Base Movement, the opportunity to organize an organized demonstration. When the train arrived at the station, platform 3 was occupied, despite the large deployment of riot police, and the train was forced to stop for approximately five hours. Furthermore, the detour to reach Pisa station without passing through Livorno forced the train to enter the station with the engine facing the opposite direction to its intended route. Therefore, only after midnight, after five hours of platform occupation and reversing maneuvers, did the train resume its journey toward the Northeast, accumulating hours of delay and arriving in Palmanova a day later than scheduled.
This was a significant action, causing a 12-hour delay on a stretch of just 100 km (between Piombino and Pisa), demonstrating that direct action can have a concrete impact in disrupting military logistics plans and that collaboration between different local entities, vigilance and workers' struggle, and mass participation can be decisive in the fight against the war.
This important and coordinated boycott action, however, did not arise out of nowhere. The port of Livorno and its port access infrastructure were blocked during last fall's strikes in support of the Sumud Flotilla. The Livorno Autonomous Port Workers' Group carried out timely work on maritime arms trafficking. The Livorno Antimilitarist Coordination, together with Railway Workers Against the War, carried out timely denunciation and counter-information on the military use of the rail transport system. There was coordinated research, compiled in a comprehensive document ("Hub"), into the spread of militarism in the area between Livorno, Pisa, and La Spezia. Above all, there was a significant evolution in the creation of a link between antimilitarist struggles and opposition to the war in sectors as diverse as schools, ports, and railways.
The protest against the train to Palmanova was a protest that, at least for us, is part of a conscious process of investigation and counter-information, as well as action. Just three months ago, we demonstrated at Pontedera station against the expansion of a track intended for dual civilian/military use, as part of European projects to strengthen military rail mobility. These projects specifically include Palmanova, as part of a military upgrade of the Florence-Pisa and Udine-Cervignano lines. Palmanova is, in fact, part of the Baltic-Adriatic corridor for the development of the TEN-T dual-use rail network, which has been discussed several times in the pages of Umanità Nova regarding the rampant militarization of Europe's railway infrastructure.
In short, there is a growing awareness that the war also starts here, and that it is here, above all, that it must be stopped.
For this reason, on Friday, March 13th, the day after the train blockade, together with the Livorno Antimilitarist Coordination, we organized a demonstration near the Naval Academy to protest the escalation of war triggered by the recent US and Israeli attack on Iran, but also to denounce the involvement of several local companies in this war. Indeed, during his recent and mysterious "vacation" in Dubai, Crosetto oversaw a contract worth hundreds of millions with the Indonesian Navy involving the Livorno-based company Drass. Meanwhile, Wass Fincantieri, which has its main production facility in Livorno, received a significant government order to supply MU 90 lightweight torpedoes to the Royal Saudi Navy.
So, once again, we want to say it: let's desert the war, starting from our workplaces and places of study: from schools, factories, ports, railways. Let's desert the war, starting from here, starting from ourselves.
Livorno Anarchist Federation
https://umanitanova.org/fermare-i-treni-delle-armi-logistica-militare-presidi-e-blocchi-a-livorno-e-pisa/
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Link: (en) Italy, FAI, Umanita Nova #9-26 - Stopping the Arms Trains. Military Logistics: Vigilance and Blockades in Livorno and Pisa (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]
Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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