Dan Gallin, a legendary leader and a socialist intellectual of the international labor movement passed away on May 31, 2025. Dan served as the General Secretary of the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations from 1968-1997 and founded the Global Labour Institute in 1997. He was a committed champion of the movement of workers in the informal economy and was one of the first in the international labour movement to recognize and reach out to SEWA.
In terms of his WIEGO legacy, Dan served as the pioneering first Director of WIEGO's Organization and Representation Programme (from 2000-2002). In addition to introducing the first program advisory committee (for ORP), Dan played a lead role in drafting the WIEGO constitution, and served on the first membership committee. Most importantly, Dan reinforced the trade union ethos within WIEGO – holding us accountable to our worker constituency. We will miss him greatly.
Read tributes from WIEGO and SEWA colleagues:
- A Tribute to Dan Gallin by Barbro Budin, former Board member of WIEGO Read More
- Dan the Man with the Union Plan, A Poem by Biff Steel, a former Board member of WIEGO Read More
- A Tribute to Dan Gallin by Chris Bonner, former Director of WIEGO’s Organization and Representation Programme Read More
- A Tribute to Dan Gallin by Karin Pape, Former Deputy Director of WIEGO’s ORP Programme Read More
- A Tribute to Dan Gallin by Marty Chen, Co-founder and Emeritus International Coordinator of WIEGO Read More
- Remembering Dan Gallin with Deepest Respect and Admiration by Mirai Chatterjee, WIEGO Board Chair Read More
- A Tribute to Dan Gallin by Renana Jhabvala, Chair of SEWA Bharat and Co-Founder and Former Board Chair of WIEGO Read More