Evening star., 1922-01-27
WOULD FORCE ALL
TO Join UNIONS
Communist Committee Gives
Out New Rules to Govern
Labor in Russia.
~ LOUIS LEVINE.

I:y Gable TO The s:nr and Chicago Daily News.
Copyright. iH.2.
MOSCOW, Eussia. January "a
The central committee of the com
munist party publishes a statement
defining the position of labor under
the new economic policy. NJ. Andriev.
secretary of the Federation OF Rus
sian Trade. Unions and Lenin him
self are members Of the committee.
Three Of the members drew up the
declaration. The document IL i'm
portant as expressing the new atti-
tude Of the communists toward the
labor problem.
The declaration advocates the re-
orEani.e ton Of the trade unions on
the eas.s of compulsory instead OF
voluntary membership. depriving tie
unions of the right to interfere In
the nan.seintn: of .naussties Id, ~ ana
hs. bee, eSrected for some time. be-
ans with Z E new economic ten-
ienr'es the condition Ct labor is
changing.
Tive Changes Favored.
The msnloranduin recognizes two-
fold changess,. Firsts in private enter
prises tina. Interests Of labor are
neEleetsa: ,thsrsf0rs 81, 5,,ur unions sr mus. sh.
shape Of strike committees and strike
funds and, BENEFITS. In the second
place. in the nationalized industries
there is a cpnf1ict between the work
ers and the administration. because
the administration is zea1ous to con-
troll and Also to show profits at the
expense OF the workers. The COM
munists argue that Russia not being
surely a capitalistic country. but IN
transition stage between capitalism
and see;ai;s'n. snd therefore the in,
ereSts II the state are indentical
VII: the interests of tie workers.
for this reason the ua,ons must use
different methods OF projecting the
workers against the administration
of industry and the state factories mus;
attempt speedy settlement of con-
diets by obtaining for the workers
the maximum benefits compatible
with the Interests Of the state II
strikes occur as q result of bureau
cratic abuses. the awkwardness OF
labor or counter revolutionary agi-
tations.' the unions must mediate.
declaration. ''is measured by its ca
pacity to avoid strikes"
RapA Gnion Interference.
The u..u.orandum condemns inter
ference by unions in the Management
of industry and says that the inter
ests of productivity are supreme and
demand the concentration OF re-
sponsibil.ty and power in the hands
OF the administration. Collective
agreements are necessary. but the
administration of factories must be
free to fix wages and distribute
money and clothing. The declara-
t:on condemns violence against sp~-
cialisrs and derAands an improve.
ment in the economic anu inuustr. al
os
able them to live better than under
capitalism.
In return the government offers TIE
unions. first. encouragement for their
growth; second, the right TO suggest
candidates for the government de-
industry, and. third. opportunities to
propose industrial managers. The
unions, however, just guarantee ef-
i;ciency and Industrial discipline. 1hc
declaration Is intended to solve these
labor problems arising as result of
recent developemen;s:
Makes Five Offers.
/. In the last few years union
bureaucrscy has grown 10 such al
extent as to become a big burden to
the state budget. The new policy
makes the unions self-supporting and
reduces the number of ofiicials.
2. So long as the unions were con-
sidered to be the basis OF the pro-
letarian Dictatorship, union officials
tried to dominate government in
lustry and caused friction. The new
policy reduces the unions to a sub
ordinate position as sgents Of the
sovernemnt maintaining discipline
and promoting production.
g. Compulsory membership is 'eS-
pected to revive interest In tie or
ganixation.
4. The new policy is expected to
create favorable labor conditions for
foreign investors.
The publication Of the declaration
on the eve Of the Genoa conference
is significant. The document Is arous-
ing much discussion among tue