The Labour Party ( es, Partido Laborista) was a

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

History

The party was founded by Peronist

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

leaders at the end of October 1945. The party organization was built up around the Peronist unions, and most of its representatives in different elected offices had been recruited from the ranks of the trade union movements. The party was led by an Organizing Committee with 52 members. The party had little structure of its own, and its popularity was mainly dependent on being identified with Juan Perón. Luis Gay, of the telephone workers union, was the general secretary of the party. Another prominent trade union leader taking part in the founding of the party was Cipriano Reyes (a leader of the meat-packers union). Reyes became vice president of the party. The party published ''El Laborista''.Mcguire, James W.
Peronism Without Peron: Unions, Parties, and Democracy in Argentina
'. Stanford: Stanford Univ Press, 1999. p. 60 Just a few months before the founding of the party, the British Labour Party had won a resounding election victory. The Argentinian party name was borrowed from the British party, and the Argentinian party organization was modelled after its British counterpart (with unions as an integral party organization). The presidential and parliamentary elections held in February 1946 resulted in a major success for the Labour Party. The party was responsible for mobilizing most of the votes for Juan Perón. It also gained a majority in both chambers of parliament. The party maintained a stance of critical support to the government of Perón. The party called for nationalizations,

social welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

and

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

.Bergquist, Charles W.
Labor in Latin America: Comparative Essays on Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia
'. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1986. pp. 169-172 Moreover, the party criticized limitations on the freedom of the press. Perón kept a certain distance from the Labour Party, favouring Radicals and dissident conservatives for the most important positions.Mainwaring, Scott, and Timothy Scully.
Building Democratic Institutions: Party Systems in Latin America
'. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1995. pp. 209-210 In mid-1946 Perón ordered that the three parties that had supported his candidacy be dissolved into a unity party, ''Partido Único de la Revolución''. The ''laboristas'' initially rejected the idea of a merger into the unity party (which in 1947 was renamed the Peronist Party). However, in July 1947 it decided to dissolve itself and called on its members to join the Peronist Party as its 'labour nucleus'.Tcach Abad, César.
Sabattinismo y peronismo: partidos políticos en Córdoba, 1943-1955
'. Colección Argentina contemporánea. Buenos Aires: Editorial Biblos, 2006. pp. 109-110 After the Labour Party had been disbanded, its former leaders (such as Reyes) suffered from government repression.Bethell, Leslie, and Ian Roxborough.
Latin America between the Second World War and the Cold War, 1944 - 1948
'. Cambridge, UK ;Melbourne, Australia ;New York, NY: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1997. p. 117 Following the Revolución Libertadora, in 1957 Cipriano Reyes refounded the party. It participated in the 1957 Argentine Constitutional Assembly election, as well as elections in 1960,

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

, and 1965, before being dissolved again.

References

{{Former political parties in Argentina Defunct political parties in Argentina History of Argentina (1943–1955) Justicialist Party Labour parties Peronist parties and alliances in Argentina Political parties established in 1945 Political parties disestablished in 1947 1945 establishments in Argentina

History

See also

References