The Swiss Party of Labour (; ; ; ) is a communist party in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

History

The party was founded in 1944 by the illegal Communist Party of Switzerland. On 21 May, the constituent conference of the

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

Federation of the party was held. On 14–15 October the same year, the first Party Congress of the party was held in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, with Léon Nicole elected to the role of President and Karl Hofmaier to General Secretary. On 6–7 October 1945, the Second Congress was held in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. By this time the party had 20 000 members. On 30 November to 1 December, the 3rd Congress was held in

. On 27 July a Swiss Party Conference was held in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, in which Karl Hofmaier was removed from his position as a result of a financial scandal. In the national elections of 1947 the party received 5.1% of the vote. On 4–6 July 1949, the 4th Congress was held, during which steps to strengthen the organization as a Cadre Party were taken. As a result of this Congress, Edgar Woog was elected General Secretary. In 1950, the party worked intensively for the Stockholm Appeal, collecting 260 000 signatures from the Swiss population. From 31 May to 2 June 1952, the 5th Congress was held in

. On 7 December, the Central Committee expelled Léon Nicole from the party. On 28–30 May, the 6th Congress was held in

. The 7th Congress was held in

from 16–18 May 1959. A new party programme approved with the concept of antimonopolistic unity, termed the "Swiss Road to Socialism" (inspired by the similar programme of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

). The 8th Congress was held in

from 16 to 18 May 1964. As of 2015, the party had no seats in the Swiss cantonal councils and was not represented in any of the 26 cantonal governments. The XXII Congress of the section of the Ticino, held on 10 November 2013, marked the unification of the with those of the Italian Grisons, creating the Communist Party of Southern Switzerland, which has stopped the collaboration with the Swiss Party of Labour after 2014; it became the Communist Party, which is not active on a national level.

2007 national elections

Holding two seats in the Swiss National Council (the lower chamber of the Swiss parliament) going into the 2007 elections, the party stood candidates in the cantons of

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

and

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

on their own; in

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...

the candidate appeared on a joint list with

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

. While the share of the vote in 2007 was similar to the party's 2003 results (0.7%), the party lost the seat held by Josef Zisyadis while retaining the seat held by Marianne Huguenin. However, on 1 November 2007 Huguenin announced her resignation from the National Council to focus on her position as mayor of

Renens Renens () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. It is located in the district of Ouest Lausannois District, Ouest Lausannois, and is a suburb of the city of Lausanne. It is the fourth largest city in ...

, Vaud, leaving Zisyadis to take the Party's seat in the National Council representing Vaud.

Election results

National Council

Cantonal-level

:1.* indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton. :2.Combined result for PdA and

. :3.Part of the Canton of Bern until 1979.

References

External links

The Swiss Workers Party
i
History of Social Security in Switzerland
{{Authority control Communist parties in Switzerland Political parties established in 1944 Party of the European Left member parties 1944 establishments in Switzerland Socialist parties in Switzerland Left-wing parties Far-left political parties