Labour and Unionists Cooperative
Labour and Unionists Cooperative Ocisa e Uninui Cooperative | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | OeUC |
| Chairperson | Nicolas Jessen |
| Vice-Chairperson | Dhreja Schi |
| Founded | March 22, 1915 |
| Legalised | July 11, 1940 |
| Youth wing | Young Labour |
| Ideology | Democratic Socialism Anti-Capitalism |
| Political position | Left wing to Far left |
| Colors | Red |
| Commons Council | 10 / 293
|
| State Council | 4 / 106
|
| State Governors | 0 / 7
|
| State Legislatures | 42 / 487
|
As one of the original political organizations in Seketan, the Labour and Unionist Cooperative, or more often just shortened to Labour, originated as a loose alliance of various workers unions and communist groups during the Nelbec Empire. Upon dissolution of the imperial crown, Seketan descended into political chaos, with a civil war breaking out between the Far-Left Soysmets and the Republicans, led by the Kjedorets. Labour sided with the republic, but once the war concluded, were banned and had their ranks cracked down in by the general anti-communist sentiment of the Early Republic. It wasn’t until WWII, when Seketan needed to gain favour with the USSR for supplies, that the party was finally allowed to participate in elections.
For most of the 1940’s to the 1970’s it was the dominant left wing party, always in opposition to the governing Kjedorates. It wasn’t until the rise of the more moderate and progressive Socialist Party (SY), a splinter group from Labour, in the 1970’s that the party lost favour in the minds of the electorate. The Socialist’s appealed to the more urban Seketan and pushed many long time Labour MP’s out of previously safe seats in Conelibek, Loria and Porta. Labour proved to be too big tent to adapt to the younger, more fresh party, and eventually was reduced to 3rd or 4th party after the 1980’s.
Today, the party is left wing, democratic socialist yet more traditionalist than their other left-leaning counterparts like the Green Party and the Socialists. Their voter base is largely found in old coal and iron mining towns, Trjebian speaking towns, along with the poorer neighborhoods of Conelibek and Fyedor. Voters also tend to be slightly older than the Socialists, more sceptical of the EU and more opposed to changing social tides, although the party has tried to change this culture within their members. Their current leader is Nicolas Jessen, who served as Minister of Labour in 2014.