Emilio Gabaglio (born 1 July 1937) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

former trade union leader. Born in

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps has m ...

, Gabaglio studied economics at the

University of Milan The University of Milan ( it, Università degli Studi di Milano; la, Universitas Studiorum Mediolanensis), known colloquially as UniMi or Statale, is a public university, public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest uni ...

. He became a secondary school teacher, and in 1964 he joined a union which was affiliated to the

Italian Confederation of Workers' Trade Unions The Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori (''CISL''; ''Italian Confederation of Trade Unions'') is an Italian trade union association representing various Catholic–inspired groups linked with Christian Democracy. It was founded on 30 Apr ...

(CISL). He was active in the

Christian Associations of Italian Workers The Christian Associations of Italian Workers (''Associazioni Cristiane dei Lavoratori Italiani'', ACLI; alternatively translated as Italian Christian Workers' Association) are a widespread lay Catholic association in Italy. Its work is based on th ...

(ACLI), and was elected as its national president in 1969. He moved the organisation to the left, encouraging it to adopt

Christian socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...

positions. This led a right-wing minority to split away as the Workers' Christian Movement, and in 1971,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

publicly deplored the ACLI. Gabaglio stood down from the ACLI in 1972, and found work as head of the international department of CISL. He represented it to the

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) was an international trade union. It came into being on 7 December 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), and was dissolved on 31 October 2006 when ...

, the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

, and the

Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD The Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) is the interface of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with organized labour. TUAC has 59 affiliated trade union centres in 31 OECD countries, representing more ...

. In 1983, he joined the national secretariat of CISL, becoming the federation's lead on regional and environmental policy and internal organisation, and then from 1989 on European policy. In 1991, Gabaglio was elected as General Secretary of the

European Trade Union Confederation The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is the major trade union organisation representing workers at the European level. In its role as a European social partner, the ETUC works both in a consulting role with the European Commission and ...

, in which role he faced the decline of some of its members organisations, but facilitated the admission of new federations from Eastern Europe. He stood down in 2003, and became active in the

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. From 2006, he was the European Affairs Counselor for the Italian Minister of Labour, then in 2009 became president of the Democratic Party's Work Forum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabaglio, Emilio 1937 births Living people Italian trade unionists People from Como