 Steck had supported the efforts of Hermann Greulich (1842-1925) in Zurich as early as 1870, but it was only on 21 October 1888 in Bern that Steck and Reichel attempted to form a national social democratic party, the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP), out of the numerous Swiss regional workers' associations.In January 1889, Reichel was elected as the first party president, Steck as the vice-president and first party secretary.In 1891 he succeeded Reichel as party president, but was soon succeeded by Eugen Wullschleger.