| Swiss Party of Labour | |
| President: | Norberto Crivelli |
| Foundation: | 14 October 1944 |
| Headquarters: | Turmweg 24 3013, Bern |
| Youth Wing: | Communist Youth Switzerland[1] |
| Predecessor: | Communist Party of Switzerland |
| Membership: | 1,000+[2] |
| European: | Party of the European Left |
| Colours: | Red |
| Seats1 Title: | National Council |
| Seats2 Title: | Council of States |
| Seats5 Title: | Cantonal legislatures |
The Swiss Party of Labour (German: Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz; French: Parti Suisse du Travail – Parti Ouvrier et Populaire; Italian: Partito Svizzero del Lavoro – Partito Operaio e Popolare; Romansh: Partida svizra da la lavur) is a communist party in Switzerland.
The party was founded in 1944 by the illegal Communist Party of Switzerland. On 21 May the constituent conference of the Basel Federation of the party was held. On 14–15 October the same year, the first Party Congress of the party was held in Zürich, 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. By this time the party had 20 000 members. On 30 November to 1 December the 3rd Congress was held in Zürich. On 27 July a Swiss Party Conference was held in Bern, 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 Geneva. On 7 December the Central Committee expelled Léon Nicole from the party. On 28–30 May the 6th Congress was held in Geneva.
The 7th Congress was held in Geneva 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 8th Congress was held in Geneva 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.[3]
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 after 2014 has stopped the collaboration with the Swiss Party of Labour, becoming the Communist Party, which is not active on a national level.
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 Zürich, Vaud, Geneva and Ticino on their own; in Neuchâtel the candidate appeared on a joint list with Solidarity. 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.[4] However, on 1 November 2007 Huguenin announced her resignation from the National Council to focus on her position as mayor of Renens, Vaud, leaving Zisyadis to take the Party's seat in the National Council representing Vaud.[5]
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | 49,353 | 5.0 | New | ||
| 1951 | 25,659 | 2.7 | 2 | ||
| 1955 | 25,060 | 2.6 | 1 | ||
| 1959 | 26,346 | 2.7 | 3 | ||
| 1963 | 21,088 | 2.2 | 3 | ||
| 1967 | 28,723 | 2.9 | 1 | ||
| 1971 | 51,341 | 2.6 | 0 | ||
| 1975 | 45,799 | 2.4 | 1 | ||
| 1979 | 38,187 | 2.1 | 1 | ||
| 1983 | 17,488 | 0.9 | 2 | ||
| 1987 | 15,528 | 0.8 | 0 | ||
| 1991 | 15,871 | 0.8 | 1 | ||
| 1995 | 22,850 | 1.18 | 1 | ||
| 1999 | 18,569 | 1.0 | 1 | ||
| 2003 | 14,595 | 0.68 | 0 | ||
| 2007 | 17,218 | 0.74 | 1 | ||
| 2011 | 21,482 | 0.54 | 1 | ||
| 2015 | 21,574 | 0.4 | 1 | ||
| 2019 | 25,427 | 0.6 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | 18,435 | 0.7 | 1 |
| Canton | 1971 | 1975 | 1979 | 1983 | 1987 | 1991 | 1995 | 1999 | 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2015 | 2019 | +PdA vote percentage, federal elections 1971–2019[6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.6 | |
| Zürich | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | |||||
| Bern | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 | ||||||||
| Fribourg | 0.9 | |||||||||||||
| Solothurn | 1.0 | 0.3 | ||||||||||||
| Basel-Stadt | 6.1 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 1.3 | |||||||
| Basel-Landschaft | 1.8 | 1.0 | ||||||||||||
| St. Gallen | 0.4 | |||||||||||||
| Ticino | 2.8 | 3.6 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.8 | |||
| Vaud | 12.2 | 10.7 | 9.3 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 8.9 | 7.8 | 6.7 | 4.7 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 1.9 | |
| Valais | 0.9 | |||||||||||||
| Neuchâtel | 13.7 | 9.8 | 7.7 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 5.2 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 3.0 | 9.2 | 10.4 | 12.2 | 12.1 | |
| Genève | 20.8 | 18.0 | 19.9 | 9.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 | 2.7 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 6.1 | 1.2 | |
| Jura | 3.8 |
1.* indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton.
2.Combined result for PdA and Solidarity.
3.Part of the Canton of Bern until 1979.