{{Short description|Author and poet}}
{{Infobox officeholder | name = Luca Visentini | image = Future of Work- Making It e-Easy (37013229286) (cropped).jpg | office = 3rd General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation | term_start = 21 November 2022 | term_end = 11 March 2023 | predecessor = [[Sharan Burrow]] | successor = [[Luc Triangle]] | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1969}} | birth_place = [[Udine]], Italy | education = | alma_mater = [[University of Trieste]] | occupation = | profession = Trade unionist }} '''Luca Visentini''' (born 1969) is an Italian trade unionist. Elected general secretary of the [[International Trade Union Confederation]] (ITUC) in November 2022, he was suspended on 14 December 2022 following his arrest and [[conditional release]] in relation to the [[Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament]]. On 11 March 2023, the ITUC General Council voted to dismiss him for accepting funds from [[Antonio Panzeri]].
He was previously the General Secretary of the [[European Trade Union Confederation]] (ETUC). He was reelected at the ETUC Congress in Vienna in May 2019, having been first elected in 2015. He has been active in the European trade union movement since the late 1980s, at regional, national and [[European Union]] levels.
==Background== After studying philosophy at the [[University of Trieste]], in 1989, he joined the [[Italian Labour Union|Unione Italiana de Lavoro]] (UIL), initially taking responsibility for the union’s youth work. In the same year he was selected as General Secretary of UIL’s Federation for Tourism, Trade and Services in [[Friuli-Venezia Giulia]].<ref name=CV>{{Cite web |url=https://www.etuc.org/sites/default/files/user/staff/public_file/2019-05/Cv_visentini.pdf |title=Luca Visentini |publisher=European Trade Union Confederation |access-date=11 April 2026}}</ref>
In 1996, he became General Secretary of UIL in [[Friuli-Venezia Giulia]] and a member of the union’s national steering and executive committees, as well as General Secretary of the UIL Confederal Chamber of Labour of Trieste. His work covered a wide range of issues including collective bargaining and wages, social dialogue, industrial, labour market and economic policy, social security and public services, as well as communications and human resource management.<ref name=CV/>
The following year, he became active at the European level as President of the Inter-Regional Trade Union Council (IRTUC) linking Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto and Croatia, and a member of the ETUC IRTUCs Coordination Committee. From 2007-2011 he was committee Vice-President and served on the ETUC's Economic and Employment Committee.<ref name=CV/>
== European Trade Union Confederation, 2011–2022 == Visentini was elected as ETUC Confederal Secretary at the 12th ETUC Congress in Athens in May 2011. His responsibilities included: Collective bargaining and wage policy; Migration and mobility; Education and training; EU budget, structural funds, economic and social cohesion, regional policy; IRTUCs and the EURES Network.<ref name=Figaro>{{cite news |title=Luca Visentini prend la tête de la CES |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-eco/2015/10/02/97002-20151002FILWWW00099-luca-visentini-prend-la-tete-de-la-ces.php |work=Le Figaro |trans-title=Luca Visentini takes the helm of the ETUC |date=2 October 2015 |language=fr}}</ref>
In October 2015, he was elected as ETUC General Secretary.<ref name=Figaro/> He was re-elected at the Congress in Vienna, in May 2019.<ref name=CV/>
== International Trade Union Confederation, 2022–2023 == Luca Visentini was elected as ITUC General Secretary at the 5th ITUC World Congress in [[Melbourne]], Australia, 17–22 November 2022.<ref name=Guardian>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/12/luca-visentini-ituc-trade-union-body-sacked-investigation|title=Head of global trade union body sacked after donation investigation|date=12 March 2023|work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=21 November 2022 |title=ITUC World Congress: Luca Visentini new ITUC General Secretary |url=https://congress2022.ituc-csi.org/ituc-world-congress-luca-visentini |access-date=22 November 2022 |work=ITUC}}</ref> He was suspended a month later, following his arrest in connection with the [[Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament]]. He was dismissed on 11 March 2023 for having accepted funds from [[Antonio Panzeri]].<ref name=Guardian/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/visentini-sacked-as-trade-union-chief-after-qatar-cash-revelations/|title=Visentini sacked as trade union chief after Qatar-scandal cash revelations|date=11 March 2023|work=Politico Europe}}</ref>
==Arrest== {{main|Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament}} In December 2022, just days after being elected as General Secretary of ITUC, Visentini was arrested as part of the [[Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament]] in which Qatar had allegedly paid large sums of cash for influence at the European Parliament.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wheaton |first=Saran |date=12 December 2022 |title=EU Parliament 'under attack' as Qatar corruption scandal grows |work=Politico Europe|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/european-parliament-under-attack-roberta-metsola-police-launch-fresh-raids-qatar-corruption-scandal-eva-kaili-socialist-democrats-ursula-von-der-leyen-visentini-giorgi-panzeri-margaritis-schinas/}}</ref> After two days in custody, Visentini was [[Conditional release|conditionally released]].<ref name=LeSoir>{{Cite news |date=11 December 2022 |title=La vice-présidente du Parlement européen Eva Kaili écrouée pour corruption, Luca Visentini libéré sous conditions |url=https://www.lesoir.be/482400/article/2022-12-11/la-vice-presidente-du-parlement-europeen-eva-kaili-ecrouee-pour-corruption-luca |publisher=[[Le Soir]] |language=fr}}</ref>
==Other activities== Visentini is a poet and writer, publishing four books of poetry and novels between 2004 and 2012. He has headed cultural associations and networks in the fields of literature and theatre.<ref name=CV/>
==See also== * [[Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament]]
==Bibliography== *Traduzioni perdute, Ibiskos, 2004 *Corridoio 5, Racconti dal caffè di mezza Europa, Danilo Zanetti Editore, 2004 *Goffi erotismi pagani, Ibiskos, 2007 *Prima della rivoluzione, Lietocolle, 2012
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category-inline}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Visentini, Luca}} [[Category:1969 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Italian male poets]] [[Category:Italian trade unionists]]