Enzo Russo

Enzo Russo obtained un associated degree in Electronical Engineering at the Galileo Ferraris Technical Industrial Institut in Savona and began his career in Genoa at Elettronica San Giorgio (Elsag), working as specialist in testing electronic equipment. Over the years, following a lengthly restructoring process, Elsag was incorporated into Selex and subsequently into Leonardo, one of Europe’s largest players in the aerospace and defence sector. As early as the early 1980s, its workforce consisted of approximately 600 engineers, technicians and IT specialists out a total of 1200 employees. Today, Leonardo employs 1,800 people at its two sites in Genoa, all white-collar workers. In February 2025, they elected a Works Council of 18 delegates, with FIOM-CGILobtaining an absolute majority with 11 elected delegates. In the 1980s, it was precisely the large influx of young high school and university graduates that raised the issue of giving them a voice within the union in order to address the demands and claims emerging from this wage stratification, characterized by a high level of education and highly professionalized work.

In that context, Enzo made the decision to join the FIOM-CGIL union and, subsequently, ran for the factory council elections, serving until 2012, when I was called to join the FIOM-CGIL Secretariat of Genoa as Organizing Secretary. In 2017, the Secretariat decided to open an International Office and entrusted him with its responsibility. The international office was established with the aim of initiating a debate on the need for a trade union with at least a European dimension, given that a single labour market has existed in Europe for decades. This need is strongly felt in Genoa, given the high degree of internationalisation achieved by many of the companies in the area. The work carried out in recent years has focused on promoting meetings betweens delegates from the work concils based in different European countries, wich has produced interesting results that Enzo has been happy to document.