The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-08-13
The speech of Comrade ain on "The New Situation
and the New Tasks of the So ciaist Constructive Work.
and its echo in the capitalist world

power in soviet industry, and particularly In
those industries and undertakings where the con-
dltlons are still severe and where the demands
on the workers are still heavy dor instance in
the coal mining and foundry industres) This
fluctuation led to replacement Of 1abour power
IN some factories TO the extent Of 40 and SO per
cent within comparatively short space of time
This fluctuation is readily understandable It
Is clear that workers who have no need to fear
unemployment are DESTROYS Of doing light work
rather than heavy work, or of leaving districts
where the living conditions are severe in favor
of such where the conditions are better This
tendency was encouraged to some extent by
unsuitable wage tariffs. There were tendencies
to level up wages for heavy and light work and
for qualified and unqualified work, or at all
events to take insufficient notice of the differ
ences between these kinds Of work However
these were nothing more than tendencies. 1t is
not true that the principle Of wage equality"
existed in the Soviet Union, as commended by the
bourgeois and social democratic press. On the
contrary up to a little while ago this press &C
cused the soviet economic system of making
too great wage differentiations, Wage differ,
ences always existed in the Soviet Union but
they did not pay sufficient attention to the diff
ferences between light and heavy work, and be-
tween qualified and unqualified labour power
The consequence Of this unsuitable wage tariff
system was that unqualified workers failed to
show the necessary desire to qualify themselves
and that they changed their work frequently.
Is the principle Of wage differentiation &C
cording to the nature Of the work performed in
contradiction to the interests Of the building up
of socialism? BY no means. Socialist industry
needs highly qualified labour power. The only
way OF securing this highly qualified labour
power is by giving the masses OF the unqualified
workers. and above all those who come from the
ranks Of the peasantry, the possibility OF re-
naming permanently in their respective fac
tories and qualifying themselves there for higher
tasks 1t Is abundantly clear that In a country
where the working class Is in power and where
profit hunting has been abolished, the results of
giving the workers material interest in increas-
ing their qualifications must be fundamentally
different from the results OF any such action
under capitalism, and that such proceeding in
the Soviet Union can only benefit the interests
of socialism
Another very important means Of combating
this labour f1uctuation is TO improve the ma
terial and cultural standards Of the workers In
those factories which demand heavy work. Ma
turally, the bourgeois and social democratic press
makes no mention Of this method. Comrade Sta
lin also deals with this necessity in his speech
and showed what must be done in practice dur
ing the coming months.
A further means of combating the fluctuation
mentioned by Conlrade Stain was the increasing
mechanization Of the heavy work OF industry,
particularly In the foundry and coal mining In
dustr1ss and IN tho lumbar industry IL, -