Evening star., 1946-09-02
Communism in Action

Unions Un
THE tollo1ping is briefng OF
the chapters on Labor" and
"Forced Labor" in the report pre-
pared by the Legislative Refer
ence Service OF the Library OF
Congress at the instance of Rep
resentat,De Dirksen, Republican,
OF IuinoiS.J
Russian labor is pictured in tn,
report as shackled by the state ant
subject to the whims of trade union,
which are. in reality, part of tn,
totalitarian government.
The state, or subdivisions of 1t
fixes wages and dictates to a larg,
extent where the worker is EN-
ployed and the job he performs
Rigid discipline is maintained, ane
severe penalties are imposed fol
such things as missing work, tardi.
ness or idling during working hours
1t should be pointed out. how.
ever, that all. or nearly all. of thu
data used in describing the position
of labor in the Soviet apply to the
situation before Russian entry int
World War II. There is very little
on the wartime status Of labor, ane
nothing about postwar conditions.
The report traces the status oI
labor from the original conception
of Lenin that the workers were t<
operate industry and divide tn.
fruits of their toll 1t shows thai
in this evolution the worker, insteac
of enjoying increasing degrees O.
freedom, has had the bonds of state
gradually tightened about him
This has accompanied efforts pre-.
dating the inception of the frs
'flve-year plan, to increase worker
productivity and the output of tn,
factories.
Productivity Hit Low in 1920.
Worker productivity dropped to ,
very low point in the late 1920.
when the full impact was felt of thu
program to eliminate castes ant
equalize pay, regardless Of the skill
required for the job.
Accompanying Stains campaign
to industrialize Russia and builc
up production with the variou,
plans" the whole system was
sharply reversed. Through the years
the workers influence in operation
of industry dwindled. Great EN-.
phasis was placed on individual out
put. This led to introduction ol
various types of piece-rate or in
centive plans. Alexei Stakhano,
developed the plan of labor speedur
known as "Stakhanovism." which
under he prodding of Stalin-be.
came almost religion.
Because of the almost universe
practice of basing pay on individua
output, differences and inequalitie.
in Russian pay scales have widenec
in recent years. This is contrary tt
the trend in this country to narrow
differentias and inequalities through
the action Of organized labor, Gov
ernment and increased training op-
portunitles.
Unions Change Function
The position and purpose of So.
Wet trade unions have changed, too
from the conception that they were
to be fighting organs Of labor with
fair degree of independence. The
unions now are described as par
Of the apparatus of the government
machinery in which labor and un.
ions haa their assigned parts tt
play
Another part of the report states
1T has thus come about thai
trade unions in Soviet Russia havl
been absorbed by its general govern
ment economic machinery. Sovie
trade union officials as party "ac
twists" are government officials. car
rylng out government policies ant
Soviet trade unions are government
institutions, disciplining the work
ers to the governments needs ant
goals and performing function
which in other countries are per
formed either by management or b!
government The juncture OF man
agement and government has re
suited in making Soviet trade unioni
state controlled and ultimately par
ty controlled institutions
| Describing the changes in Russian
! trade unionism in the early 1930s
the report states:
! With these came a new program
of activities for trade-unions center
ing about the united effort to max
and surpass new production goals II
all industries, to increase difierentia
wages, improve labor discipline or
ganize shock brigades,' promote so
cialist. competition speed up pro
duction by the universal adoption o
Stakhanovism, and keep busy b
administering the social security an
welfare programs Of the state. Wit.
variations and additions this ha
been the dominant sphere of activ
ity of Soviet trade-unions to this da,
Lenin's earlier notion Of the prope
function OF trade unions now wa
characterized by such themes as 'op
portunist' and 'trade-unionist.'
I'm practice. joining the union /
the plant is a political and economi
necessity Nonunion members d
not receive the benefits under tn
social security program extended t
union members; If, for example, the
are incapacitated, they receive onl
half the benefits extended to unio
members.
Before the revolution. trade
unions were regarded by the Com
munists Is organs Of revolt and tn