Vito Gruosso, an Italian trade-union leader and politician who represented the region of Basilicata in the Senate for 12 years, died in Potenza on Aug. 13, 2026, at 78 after a brief illness, Rai News reported.
Gruosso joined the leadership of the Potenza Chamber of Labor, a local labor organization, in 1981. In 1985, he became regional secretary of the Basilicata branch of the CGIL labor federation and held the post until 1994.
At a 1991 CGIL congress, Gruosso argued for unified labor strategies across northern and southern Italy. He also addressed labor relations at Fiat plants in Basilicata.
He was elected to Italy’s Senate from Basilicata in 1994. That year, he took part in a debate on creating a parliamentary inquiry into caporalato, the illegal recruitment of workers. Reelected in 1996 and 2001, he represented Melfi and later Potenza during a Senate career that continued through 2006.
