Progressive Labor Movement
| Progressive Labor Movement | |
|---|---|
| Party leader | George Herbert Walter |
| Deputy Chairman | Sydney Christian |
| founding | 1968 |
| fusion | 1992 (merged into: United Progressive Party ) |
| Alignment | socialist |
| Colours) | blue |
The Progressive Labor Movement (PLM) was a political party from Antigua and Barbuda .
history
In 1967 a split broke out within the Antigua Trades and Labor Union . As a result of a dispute over the direction of the union, the then general secretary George Herbert Walter left the organization. Numerous members joined him. After discussions with the board of directors of the Antigua and Barbuda Democratic Movement and the Antigua Progressive Movement , the Progressive Labor Movement was founded on April 24, 1969. George Herbert Walter was elected party chairman. In the 1971 general election , the party ran with 17 candidates and won 13 of the 14 seats in the House of Representatives . It is the first party to defeat the Antigua Labor Party in a general election. Although the 1973 oil price crisis in Antigua and Barbuda caused a considerable economic downturn and various ministers of the party were embroiled in scandals, the PLM was able to achieve a majority of the votes in the 1976 general election with 49.9% Antigua Labor Party just left behind with 49.0%. Because of the existing majority voting rights , the party only achieved five seats in the House of Representatives, while the Antigua Labor Party could claim 11 for itself. In the 1980 general election , the party only received 39.26% of the vote and had three MPs. This result deteriorated dramatically again in the 1984 elections with 1.86% and no representative in the House of Representatives, so that the party no longer ran in the 1989 general election . In 1992 the PLM finally merged with the United National Democratic Party and the Antigua Caribbean Liberation Movement to form the United Progressive Party .
Political activity as a ruling party
Social policy
During her time as a ruling party, the PLM introduced a social security system with health and pension insurance . In addition, the government under Prime Minister Walter created a labor code.
Economic policy
In the area of economic policy , the PLM relied on the expansion of roads and water supplies during its reign. An additional reservoir was built at the instigation of the government . On the other hand, people turned away from seawater desalination . A central point of economic policy was the strengthening of agriculture . To this end, the government ended the subsidies for the sugar industry, so that numerous areas were created for pasture land and arable farming. A program was also set up to enable the government to buy agricultural produce from farmers.
Criticism and opposition
Even during its time as a ruling party, there was considerable tension with the trade unions . As a result, there were more than 80 strikes during the PLM's reign . Several ministers of the party were also involved in scandals. After losing the majority of seats in the House of Representatives, the party acted as the opposition . As such, however, it was not very effective as there were repeated internal disputes and it was not possible to agree on a common approach with the other opposition party.
literature
- W. Marvin Will: Antigua and Barbuda . In: Charles D. Ameringer (Ed.): Political parties of the Americas, 1980s to 1990s: Canada, Latin America, and the West Indies . Greenwood Press, Westport 1992, ISBN 0-313-27418-5 , pp. 13-19 ( Google Books [accessed July 1, 2015]).
- Robert J. Alexander: A history of organized labor in the English-speaking West Indies . Praeger, Westport 2004, ISBN 0-275-97743-9 , Chapter 7 ( Google Books [accessed July 1, 2015]).