The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is deeply saddened to mark the passing of Erwin De Deyn, former President of BBTK-SETCa.
Erwin was a committed internationalist who devoted his life to the labour movement. Erwin died at home in Antwerp, surrounded by his family, on 20 September 2026. He was 73.
He was a defining figure for BBTK-SETCa and, through it, for the ABVV-FGTB confederation, to which he gave almost his entire working life.
Trained as an industrial engineer, he began his career at the Belgian consumer organisation, Test Aankoop, where he first became involved in trade union work. He went on to spend 13 years as an education officer with BBTK-SETCa, travelling across Belgium to train and support members and activists. He was elected Federal Secretary in 1992, Vice-President in 2004 and President in 2006 – a role he held for 13 years, during which BBTK-SETCa grew to become the largest union within the ABVV-FGTB. He retired at the end of 2019 after some 40 years with the union.
Erwin was a principled and determined leader. He was at the forefront of the fight against the 2005 Generation Pact pension reforms, including a widely followed 24-hour national strike in retail chains, and championed white-collar workers in the negotiations on a single employment status for blue- and white-collar workers. Working alongside the ABVV-FGTB's General Union, he helped introduce the principle of one union per sector across 47 sectors, and modernised BBTK-SETCa into a union ready for the future. Even across the bargaining table, he was respected as a man of dialogue, realism and humour – warm towards people, and tough in defending workers' interests.
He believed deeply in international solidarity and understood early on that trade union work had to extend beyond national and European borders, because the decisions shaping workers' lives increasingly do too. From the early 2000s he helped build international partnerships and relationships with the European and global union federations that continue to this day. Many colleagues across the ITF family worked alongside him over the years.
ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton said: "Erwin De Deyn understood, long before many others, that workers' power cannot stop at national borders. He built bridges between unions and between sectors, and the international partnerships he helped create are still delivering for working people today. His lifelong commitment to trade unionism has left a lasting mark on BBTK-SETCa, the ABVV-FGTB and the wider labour movement."
ITF President Paddy Crumlin said: "Erwin was a fighter who never took a backward step for working people. He built a strong union at home and reached across borders. The movement is stronger for his work, and poorer for his loss. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and all his comrades."
Frank Moreels, ITF President-elect and Vice President of Europe said: "Erwin was a giant of the Belgian trade union movement and a true comrade. Whether at the negotiating table in Brussels or at international meetings, he fought for workers with conviction, intelligence and a sense of humour that disarmed even his toughest opponents. We have lost a great trade unionist and a dear friend."
The ITF extends its deepest condolences to his wife Rita, his two children, his family and friends, and to all our colleagues at BBTK-SETCa and the ABVV-FGTB.
