Sergio Cofferati (born 30 January 1948) is an Italian trade unionist and politician. He was secretary general of CGIL from 1994 to 2002,

mayor of Bologna The Mayor of Bologna is an elected politician who, along with the Bologna’s City Council, is accountable for the strategic government of Bologna, the regional capital of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Overview According to the Italian Constitution, th ...

for the

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left (, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. Positioned on the centre-left, the DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger ...

from 2004 to 2009, and

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) from 2009 to 2019 elected as a candidate of the Democratic Party.

Early life and career

Cofferati was born at Sesto ed Uniti, in the

province of Cremona The province of Cremona (; Cremunés dialect, Cremunés: ; ; Emilian dialects, Casalasco-Viadanese: ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital city is Cremona. The province occupies the central section of Pa ...

. Initially an employee of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...

and a member of CGIL, Cofferati rose up in the major Italian trade union, becoming leader of Filcea (the

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

labour wing of CGIL) in 1988, and Secretary General of the CGIL itself in 1990, succeeding Bruno Trentin. He led the CGIL until 2002, after having obtained some relevant triumphs such as negotiating the reform of pensions in 1995, and opposing the change of article 18 of the "workers' statute", a 1970 bill, which protects employees in the event of illegitimate, unjust and discriminatory dismissal. In 2004, Cofferati was elected as mayor of

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, replacing Giorgio Guazzaloca. In 2008, he decided not to run for his second term as mayor.

Member of the European Parliament, 2009–2019

In 2009 Cofferati was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

as a Member of the

Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the Political groups of the European Parliament, political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and ...

. He first served on the

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) is a Committees of the European Parliament, committee of the European Parliament. It is responsible for issues of employment and social policy, including labour rights, social security, inclusion ...

(2009-2012) before moving to

Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) is a Committees of the European Parliament, committee of the European Parliament. Work of the committee The committee is responsible for: * Coordination at Community level of na ...

in 2012. In 2016, he also joined the Parliament's temporary Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion (PANA) that investigated the

Panama Papers The Panama Papers () are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) published beginning April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. These document ...

revelations and tax avoidance schemes more broadly. In addition to his committee assignments, Cofferati was one of the vice-chairs of the European Parliament Intergroup on Seas, Rivers, Islands and Coastal Areas. He is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

; the European Parliament Intergroup on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights; and the MEP Heart Group, a group of parliamentarians who have an interest in promoting measures that will help reduce the burden of

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...

s (CVD).Supporters
MEP Heart Group.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cofferati, Sergio 1948 births Living people Politicians from the Province of Cremona Mayors of Bologna Democratic Party (Italy) MEPs MEPs for Italy 2009–2014 Democrats of the Left politicians MEPs for Italy 2014–2019 Italian Left politicians Italian trade unionists