ROMA – Is dead Guglielmo Epifani, former general secretary of the CGIL and, for a short period, secretary of the Democratic Party and then moved on to Liberi e Uguali of which he was currently a member of parliament. He was born in Rome in 1950. Epifani was the first socialist to lead the CGIL, he was deputy of Bruno Trentin and then of Sergio Cofferati. For some months, Epifani had been struggling with a disease that had progressively weakened him.
Graduated in philosophy with a thesis on Anna Kuliscioff, he spent his entire career in the CGIL before the political one. He began to work in the publishing house of the union, then moved to the federation of polygraphers of which he took over. In 1990 he entered the confederal secretariat and in 2002, after Cofferati’s farewell, he became the general secretary.
Cultured, refined intellectual, he was a trade unionist with kind features, but also capable of radical decisions. It was he who announced at the CGIL congress in 2002 the decision that led to the 3 million workers in the streets against the reform of article 18 wanted by the Berlusconi government, the largest demonstration ever held at the Circus Maximus. At the helm of the union for eight years, he passed the baton in 2010 to Susanna Camusso.
Elected to the House for the first time in the 2013 elections in the ranks of the Democratic Party, he took over the reins of the party in May of the same year after the resignation of Pier Luigi Bersani. Del Pd Epifani was a “ferryman” for seven months, until the December 2013 congress he had crowned Matteo Renzi as secretary.
So, in 2017 the tear with the secretariat of the former mayor of Florence and the farewell to the Democratic Party with the birth of Article 1. Forza then merged in the last elections in Liberi e Uguali, with which Epifani was elected again in the Chamber in 2018
The condolences of the political and trade union world
Many messages of affection sent by the political and trade union world. “For the CGIL it is a serious fault, he gave his life to the CGIL and the union”, commented the CGIL leader. Maurizio Landini. “Epifani was a great trade unionist, a good politician, competent, lucid and refined, he leaves an unbridgeable void”, said the secretary of the CISL Luigi Sbarra. “We lose a friend and a respectable person engaged in so many battles”, the words of the general secretary of Uil Pierpaolo Bombardieri.
“A very sad day, dramatic news”, commented the secretary of the Democratic Party Enrico Letta interrupting the ongoing meeting with the trade unions. “To Epifani’s family I express my condolences from all Democrats and all Democrats”. “I am deeply shocked and saddened by the untimely death of Guglielmo Epifani with whom I shared many years of commitment, always admiring his intelligent participation and the correctness with which he interpreted his role in politics and in the union”, he said. Massimo D’Alema. Words of affection also came from the opposite side to that of Epifani. “We were on different political positions but I have always appreciated his passion, his competence and his ability to confront each other. He leaves a respectable and respectable person”, he said. commented Giorgia Meloni.
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