Sergio Cofferati

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Sergio Cofferati (born 30 January 1948 in Sesto ed Uniti, Cremona) is an Italian politician, and mayor of Bologna as of 2004 for the Democrats of the Left.

Initially an employee for the Milan's Pirelli and member of CGIL, Cofferati rise up on the major Italian trade union, up to becoming leader of Filcea (the chemical labour wing of CGIL) in 1988, and leader of CGIL itself in 1990, succeeding to 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 the article 18 of the "workers' statute", a 1970 bill, which allow italian judges to condemn enterprise to assume workers from theirself fired. After having left his position on CGIL, he went back to his position at Pirelli but his old factory didn't exist anymore. In 2004, he was successfully elected as Mayor of Bologna, defeating incumbent Giorgio Guazzaloca.

Cofferati, wrongly labelled as a radical leftist, experienced in 2005 strong opposition from the left-wing of his coalition The Union, after having fiercely supported a "crusade on legality" catching away several abusive house residents, mainly irregular immigrants and squatters.