Nikolai Rogovsky

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Nikolal Rogovsky

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NOVOSTI PRESS AGENCY PUBLISHING HOUSE

MOSCOW, 1975

Contents

3 T'he Economic Basis

6 Population

l0 Guaranteeing the Right to Work

17 Growth of Labour Productittitg-the Main Way

Deuelop the Dconomg

20 Socialisf Pfinciple of RemunetuLion ol Ltrbour

28 Working Houts and Conditions

30 lleplenishing the Work Force

34 Fult Emplogment and lls Problenrc

@ Novosti Prcss Agency Publishing House, 1975

Editing comPlcted on June 25' 1975

The Economic Basis

*

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics coversa greater te-22,400,000.qua."krmorethan+,^SOO t<m nearlY 10,000km from in BYelorussiaor the Baltic states are hurrying off to the theatrefor the evening performance' a new day is dawn-ing in the Soviet Far East. On Soviet territoryth6re are 11 of the 24 time zones into which thervorld is conventionally divided.

The USSR borders on twelve states. It has longer'

'ffiTo,,l,",;of them are

washed bytwelve seas and three oceans.

The economic basis of Soviet society is the so-

cialist system of economy, with public ownershipof the means of production and natural resources'In mineral wealth the USSR is without equal, oc-

cupying first place in the world for reserves of

"oui, i.ott ore, manganese, natural gas, lead, nickel,

cobalt, tungsten, molybdenum, antimony, sulphur,

apatite, asbestos alxl a ntlnl)cr of ollrcl' minerals"Altogether the Soviet Union has aboul 50,000 big

iu<lustrial enterprises, more theln 31 ,000 collectivefatrns antl morc than 17,000 statc farms.

'Ihc Soviet economy is governed by an overallstate plan--this is possible because the means ofproduction are The result is tha I

production can the most effecti't'tlivay, society is us conseqllences o[anarchy in pro onomic crises arlcl

lecessions, and the working people no longer have tofear unemployment. '[he economy can clevelopwithout hindrance.

The ultimate aim of production in the SovietUnion is an abundance of material and cultural'wealth for everyone. The maximum developmentof social production is considered an essential con-dition for builtling a communist society, itr whichthe governirrg principle will be: "From each ac-c<llding to his ability, to each according to hisneed".

A modern highly developed economy was createtlin the USSR within an extremely short time' Ittook the Soviet people less than four decades totransform pre-revolutionary Russia, which in 1917

was 50-100 years behind developed countries in theWest economically and technically, into a porverfulinclustrial state. About half this period' moreover,was taken up by repelling invaders and rehabili:tating the war-ravaged economY.

ThL fact that public ownership of the means ofproduction has treen established, an end put to

the exploitation of labour, the soil for economiccrises iemoved, unemployment ended and plannedcconomic management introducetl has given social-ism clecisive advantages ovet capitalism in thcsphere of production.

)Industrial prorluction is gror'ving in the I-ISSR

much faster than in the major capitalist couniries.In the 21 years frona 1951 to tr971 the average an-nual growth rate for industrial production in theUSA rvas 4.1 per cent whereas in the USSR thefigure was 10 per cent. While it took the USA18 years to double industrial output, Britain 22ycars and West Gelmany (,vcr 11 years, theSoviet Union (lid it in eighl ancl a half yetrs.

'fhcse are ihe rdvanccs bciug ma<1c by the social-ist econorrry, crirrvincing cvitlencc <iI its dynamicdevelopment.

'foday the USSR is a big intlustrial porver rvithwell developed agriculture equipped rvith modernmachinery. This can be seen from the following{igures. In 1974 it produced 975,000 million kilo-watt-hours of electricity, extrncted 459 million tonsof oil, 261 ,000 million cubic metres of natural gas,and 684 million tons of coal, and turnecl out 99.9million tons of pig iron and 136 m'illion tons ofsteel.

Agricultural machinery consists mainly of trac-tors, combine harvesters and lorries. In 1973,2,180,000 tractors, 670,000 combine han,estels and1,284,000 lorries 'qvere in use on Soviet farrns.

In 1974 the farrn machinery industry produced347,000 tractors, and over 190,000 combines cle-signecl for a variety of purposes, while the chemi-cal industry provided ,agriculture 'ivith 63,900,000tons of mineral fertiliser.

On ,the basis of econornic grorvth, consistentmeaslrres have been taken to raise standards ofliving. Between 1971 and 1973 there were vagerises for 31 million people, or one in three ofSoviet wage and s,alary earners. Twenty-thrce mil-lion peorple were better off as a result of higher

of the entironment. More than 4,000 million rou-bles were spent on labour protection and bettersafety measures in 1971-73 while the state investedabout 2,000 rnillion roubles in combating environ-rnental pollution.

Population*

Only China and India have greater populationsthan the USSR. Although the fascist onslaughts oft94l-45 led to tremendous loss of life-over20 million Soviet people died-the population ofthe USSR today numbers over 253 million, over50 million rnore than in 1940.

Yet the cotlntry is still suffering from popula-tion inbalances brought about by the war. Amongthe over-48s, for exarnple (those who fought in thewar) ther,e are only 525 rnen to every 1,000women.

The tremendous losses of men, and the lowbirth-rate during and immediately after the warwere to a considerable extent responsible for acertain drop in the birth-rate observed in themid-sixties, when the comparatively small genera-tion born in the micl-forties camc of marriageableage.

Today more than half the population of theUSSR is under thirty. As regards the birth-ratethere lvas a certain increase on the 1969 figure in

lhe petiod 1970-74. But although the naturalpopulation growth is at a fairly satisfactory level,the Soviet state is interested in seeing it increasestill more.

Stable population growth is made possible bybetter living standards, irnprovements in the uni-versal free medical service, and state social se-curity. The overall death-rate is only 25 per centof what iit rvas in Russia ]teforc the revolution,and the child mortality ratc less than 9 per centof the old figure. The Soviet Union's natural popu-lation growth is one of the highest for any econo-mically advanced country. Average life expectancyin the country has rnore than doubled since pre-revolution times, having increased from 32 to over70 years.

Population density is not uniform throughoutthe Soviet Union. In cert,ain areas of the RussianF,ederation (the industrial heart of the Federa-tion) , the Ukraine, Moldavia, and Uzbekistan thcIigurc cquals that of the densely populated statesof Eulope. In the vast expanses of northern andnorth-eastern regions, however, there are moun-tainous areas where the density does not evenamount to one person per square kilometre.

Average density for the USSR as a whole isroughly 11 per sq. km.

Bec,ause 'of the rapicl economic development ofthe e,astern areas of the country sinc,e the war,especially Kazakhstan, Central Asia and Siberia,the population increase in these regions is f arabove the national average. This is duc partly tothe migration of people to those areas from ccn-tral regions, and partly to the higher birth-rate inI(azakhstan and Central Asia.

The Sov,iet Union is a multinational state, rvithmore than a hundred nationalities. The 1970 cen-

sus figurcs show that along rvith the large popula-tion of Russians (129 milliorr, or 53.4 pel cent ofthe total) or Ukrainians (40.7 million), there aresome very small nationalit'ies, numbering less thana thousand (Kets, Orochi and Nganasani) or evenless than 500 (Aleutians or Yukagirs).

The basis of the Soviet policy on the nationali-ties qucstion is equal rights and opportunit'ics forfree nalional clevelo,pment for ali peoples.

Article 123 of the USSR Constitution states:"Equality of rights of citizens of the USSII, irres-pective of their natrionality or race, in all spheresof econornic, government, cultural, political andother public activity, is an indefeasible law.

"Any direct or indirect restriction of the rightsof, or, conversely, the establishment of any director indirect privileges for, citizens on account oftheir race or nationality, as well as any advocacyof raaial or national exclusiveness or hatred andconteur:pt, are punishable by law."

The Soviet multinational state has shown howto combine harmoniously the interests of societyas a whole with the interests of each nationality-the first such exanple in historY.

Tremendous credit is due to Lenin, leader ,of theComrnunist Party and the people, for his part inthe creation of the multinational state. Developingin ,a creative way the ideas of Marx and Engels hecreated a consis'tent body of theory on the nationa-lities question, arr-d worked out the scientific prin-ciples of the Communist Party's policy on thisquestion. Marxism-Leninisrn has pointed 'out theplace and role of the nationalities question in theievolutionary tnansformation of the world andhas sholvn how it is subordinated to lhe interestsof the class struggle, the interests of socialism' Ithas shown the vital need for unity of the proleta-

riat of all natiorralities in the fight against capital-ist enslavement and for social and national libera-tion.

The victory of the socialist revolution inRussia in October 1917 was the principal politicalcondition for carrying through radical social andeconomic changes and putting into effect Lenin,sprograrnme on the nationalities question.

The Soviet state was the first in the world to im-mediately grant complete freedom to all oppressednationalities. The Declaration of Rights of thePeoples of Russia, adopted on Lenin's initiative inthe early days after the establishment of Sovietpower, proclaimed the equality and sovereignty ofpeoples, the right of each one of them to self-de-termination, to the extent of separation and theforrnation of independent state, the abolition ofall national or religious privileges and restrictions,and the free development of the national minori-ties and ethnic gr,oups living on the territory ofthe S.oviet state.

These princ,iples were not Simply procl,aimed butwere put into practice. Furthermore, it was theefforts of the Soviet Union tha,t later led to theprinciple of self-determination of nations becom-ing generally accepted and being incorporated inthe United Nations Char,ter.

After the revolution in October lglT a number ofindependent Soviet republics were formed on theterritory of the former Russian empire. Their jointstruggtre against internal counter-revolution andforeign intervention from 1918 to 1922, the closeco-ordination of their activities in foreign affairsand to restore and developthe inced the young natio-nal were to preserve theirindepenclence and people's power it was esscntial

to set up a stable state entity-the Union of SovietSocialist Republics.

Lenin gave a scienti{ic exposition of the histori-cal necesiity for the Soviet republics to unite, anclworked out the internationalist princi'ples govern-ing the building of a multinational state. "We wanla uoluntarg union of nations," he saicl, "a unionwhich precludes any coercion of one nation byanother-a union founded on complete confidence,on a clear recognition of brotherly unity, onabsolutely voluntary consent."

The decision to come together in one union wasadopted by congresses of Soviets, the suprerneorgans of power in each rePublic.

bn Decernber 30, 1922 the First All-Union Con-gress of Soviets considered and unanimously adopt-ea tne Declaration on the Formation of the Unionof Soviet Socialist RePublics.

The fact that the Soviet republics voluntarilycame USSR ensured favou-rable sing societY on social-ist pr conomic and culturaladvance of all the Soviet nationalities.

Guaranteeing the Right to Work*

At the beginning of every year Soviet newspa-pers publish the report of the Central StatisticalBoara of the USSR on how the econornic plan forthg rprevious yerar was carried out. It includes a

diveisity of figures indicating rthc state of the So-viet nafional economy under the headings "Indus-try", "Agriculture, Transport and Communica-tions" and "Capital Construction".

Another section is headed "Growth of the Peo-ple's X{aterial Well-Being and Cultural Standards".It contains data on wage increases, on paymentsand benefits paid out to the population from pub-lic consumption funds, on the growth in real in-comes, on state allocations for education, he,alth,etc.

Then comes ,a line withclut a single figure in it,but is far more eloquent than a wealth of figures:"As in previous years there was full employ-trltent. . ."

The years p,ass, and this line goes on frort oneCentral Statistical Board report to the next. Itattracts no attention, for it is something peoplehave become quite used to. For over forty yearsnow-since 1930-there has been no unemploy-mcnt in the Soviet Union. At the same time noticescan always be seen posted up outside factories an-nouncing a need for weavers, electricians, huildingworkers, technicians, engineers, and so on.

A different picture entirely is to be seen today inthe world of free enterprise. In the leading capital-ist countries rthe army of unemployed is constantlyon the increase. The United States, for instance(according to 1975 figures), has nearly 9 millionunemployed, while Britain, West Germany andItaly have all passed the million mark. In capital-ist iociety production is organised first and fore-most on the basis of the owner's desire to extractthe maxirnum possible pro{its, that is, on the ma-

re threatthe pos-

of hiswork is

a heavy burden for the worker, an enf'orced ne-cessity.

The character of labour under socialism is radi-

llt0

cally clifferent. Public ownership of the tools andmeans of production has ruled out forever anyform of exploitation of the working man. Comrade-ly co-operation and mutual help between peopleunburdened by exploitation prevail everywhere, intheir turn giving rise to a new attitude to labour.More and more labour is becoming a umatter ofhonour and prowess for every worker, and fromthis results the free, socially consclous workingdiscipline of people engaged in production, unitedby the cornmon airn of building communism.

The right to rvork is guaranteed by Article 118of the USSR Constitution: "Citizens of the USSRhave the right to work, that is, the right to gua-ranteed employment and payment fon their workin accordance with its guantity and quality.

"The right to work is ensured by the socialistorganisation of the national economy, the steadygrowth of the pnoductive forces of Soviet society,the elimination of any possibility of economiccrises, and the abolition of unemployment."

The Soviet state is constantly concerned to en-sure th,at everyone does in reality enjoy the right towork. Each new five-year plan provides for mil-

production are women with large f:amilies or withvery young children.

In the Soviet Union work has become the chiefyar.d,stick of a person's rvorth-not the amountof wealth or property he has, nor his nationalorigin, but only his owu labour. This is u'hat de-

termines the position of a man orwoman in socia-list society.

Under socialisrru the fruits of man's labour be-long to the whole of society and are distributed inthe interests of the entire people. In other words,work has ceased to be the mejans of one man ex-ploiting another and is now seen as the source ofthe progress of society as a whole and of each ofits members individually. Labour is held in highpublic esteem. The best workers receive orders anduredals, or the title of Flero of Soci'alist Labour.

Work is regarded as a service to society, as thesupreme meaning of human existence. This isone of the rnost vital features of the socialist wayof life.

In socialist society everyone works both forhimself and for society in general. Every achieve-ment in production, every success in work helpsimprove the material prosperity and cultural stan-dards of the people. Everyone in the Soviet Unionknows quite confidently that if today he worksbetter and produces more than he did yesterday,then tomorror,v he will receive rnore material andcultural wealth, and this cannot help giving hima more active attitude to his job.

Speaking of labour under socialism, Lenin said:"For the lirst tirne after centuries of rvorking forothers, of forced labour for the exploiter, it hasbecome possible to utork for oneself and more-over to employ all the achievements of moderntechnology and culture in one's work." This gaverise to a new attitude to labour.

An example of this new type of attitude to la-bour is socialist cornpetition, which is carried outbetrveen individual workers and also between en-tire collectives to see who can do best on the job.

l2 tt

work of the whole industrial euterprise at which

lities.

use of new machirrery and equipment and to makcproduction as ef{icient as possible.

In the USSR socialist competition has become apowerful factor in social progress.

Industrialisation and the creation of new in-dustrial centres rr*ave led to a rapid increase inurban population. In 1940 there were 63 rnillionpeople living in the towns-a third of the totalpopulation of the USSR. By the begiuning of 1972the figure was over 142.5 million, or 58 per cent.fioclay the share of urban population in the u,holepopulation considerably exceeds the world ave-r,age and is loughly equal to the average forEurope.

More than half the Soviet populat.ion are wo-men-at the beginning of 1974 there wcre 134.7million. They play an imrnense role in economic,cultural, social and political life. They haveequal rights in ali spheres of endeavour and areguaranteed equal pay with men for equal work.

If one day all the wornen in the Soviet Unionsuddenly stayed at home and did not turn up forwork, half the factory shops woulcl be empty.(Women account for 49 per cent of hose rvork-ing in Soviet industry). The schools would have[o close, for 72 per cent of staff of educational andcultulal establishments are women. There wouldbe no one to deal with 'the sick-S5 per cent ofhealth-service 'workers are women. The harvestwould be in jeopardy, aud work would come to ahalt on dairy farms, for 45 per cent of the peopleu,'orking on Soviet farms are women.

Perhaps Soviet women do not advance so wellas men in their chosen trades or professions, des-pite the fact that they receive the same train{ng?Here are some figures: 41,000 women are headsof industrial enterplises of t,arious kinds. Women

ll 3t l5

account for 50 per cent of the heads of instittt-tions of the health service, tradc and puhlic ca-tcring, and public services. . .

The working class of the Soviet Union nurn-bers 69.1 million. It creates the principal toolsand rne,ans of lahour and a considerable propor-tion of the consumer goods. It is upon the eflortsof the working class above all that the level ofproduction and the standards of material prolspe-rity of the Soviet people depend. Almost thlee-qualters of the public wealth of the USSR iscrealed by the hands of the u,orkers.

The working class is the leading force in Sovietsociety. This position of the working class in so-c,iety is not an arttifiglrlr, contrived plivilege.

The position of the wo,rking class in the systernof socialist social relations results from its revo-lutionary traditions, disciplined character, collec-tivism, selfless dcvotion to communism, its inter-nationalism, staunchne,ss, heroism and other loftymoral and political qualitties.

"The working class has been and remains themain productive force of socicty," Leonid Brezh-nev, General Secretary of the Central Comrnittee ofthe CPSU, pointed out at the Party's 24th Congress.

'Ihe working class, the rmost organised and po-litically conscious class, is the most active socio-political ,force in developed socialist society. I'tstancls zrt the head of the peop,le in the building ofcomntunism 'and takes part in the formulationand plactical implemenUation of the CommunistP,arty's policy, in the drawing up ancl car, ying outof plans for communist constru'ction and in run-ning the state and publric affairs.

The r,vorkers are the backbone of the Commun-ist Panty, of the Soviets, and of public organisa-[i,ons. Workers make up 40.7 per cent gf the Par-

ty's mernbership ancl 31.7 pel ccnt of [he StrprcmeSoviet of the USSR.

Standard's of Soviet workers, both as regards ge-neral education and special job qualifications aresteadily rising. In 1959 a total of 396 out of eve-ry thousand workers had higher or secondary edu-cation, r.vhereas today's figure is 660.

Growth of Labour Productivity-the Main Wry to Develop

the EcorromyI

At all ,stages of Soviet economic development thesteady growth of labour productivity has been asignificant indicator of the rise in the efficiencyof production and ,the decisive condition for crea-ting the material basis for cornmunism and furtherraising material and cultural standards of the So-viet people.

In the very early years aftclthe establishmentof Soviet government Lenin put forward well-founded argurnents showing the prime importanceof increased labour procluctivity for the successof socialism. "In the last analysis," ftte said, "pro-ductivity of labour is the most irnportant, titre prin-cipal thing for thre victory of the new social sys-tem."

In the years of Soviet powcr labour productivityin industry has incre,ased 20.7 times over, and inagriculture 5.2 linrcs.

Only in the first three years of the 9th five-yearplan period labour productivity in industry rose19 pel cent, and in agriculture 1 7 per cent.

l5

l'hese stablc grorvth ratcs are due above all tothe provision of new plant and machines and therenerval of old ones at industrial enterprises, stateand collective farrns, in railway, water and roadtransport and in other spheres. For example, be-tween January 1, 1960 and January 1, 1973 thevalue of plant and machinery in use in the So-viet national economy increased 2.9-fold.

Particularly big changes have taken place in in-dustry-the most important branch of the natio-nal economy. In 1966-70 industrial plant and ma-chinery increased 34 per cent and labour producti-vity by 32 per cent.

An important indicator of the growth of pro-duction efficiency is the amount of electricityused in production. In 1973 the USSR generated915,000 million kilowatt-hours of electricity ofwhich 523,600 million were consumed by industryand 64,700 million by transport.

Throughout the entire period of socialist con-struction the chief task has remained productionof the means of production, which determinestechnical reequipment of all branches of the eco-nomy, and also ensures high growth rates in theproduction of consumer goods.

During the Sth (ive-year plan period (1966-70)the growth rates for means of production and con-sumer goods drew nearer to each other. This wasevidence of the high level of development in theformer category, which constitutes the essentialbasis for speeding up the output of consumer goods.Because the growttr rates in the two categories ap-proximated more closely, supplies of consumergoortrs substantially improved. In the 9th fiv,e-yearplan period (1971-75) there were further increa-ses in growth rates, especially in the productionof consumer goods.

Data on numbers of rnetal-cutting machine tools

in 1940.

previously produced equiPment.' In the-last 10-15 years a great deal has been

done in the Soviet Union to create complex-meaha-nised, automated and complex-automated industri-

sation and automation.Changes in the internal slructure of productiol

due to -increasing

the use of gas and liquid fuelsfor power, technology and simply f-or heating havealso had a good effect on the growth of labour pro-

t819

cheap raw materials ,and power are available, sincethese factors ultimately determine the economicefliciency of production and the level of labourproductivity. In this connection such areasas the Far East, East ,and West Siberia, theUrals ancl Kazakhstan, are the most attractive, hav-ing large power resources and big reserves of avariety of minerals.

Industrialisation has ensured the existence of thematerial and technical base for the developmentof large-scale agricultural production. At the be-ginning of 1975 the collective and state farms had2,527,000 tr,actors, 753,000 grain-harvesting com-bines and 1,534,000 lorries.

The considerable increase in labour productivityobserved in leading branches of the economy hasbeen made possible by technical advances in pro-duction. In 1974 alone, the fourth year of theninth five-year plan, labour productivity in indus-try rose by 6.5 per ccnt, and this accounted for aconsiderable increase in production.

Yet there are potentials for raising labour pro-ductivity of whic,h sufficient use is not being made.That is why the l97l-75 economic plan providedfor high growth rates of labour productivity: 39per cent in industry, 37 per cent in construction,37-40 per cent in agriculture, and 23 per cent inrail transport.

Socialist Principle of Remunerationof Labour

*In an article entitled Fourth Anniuersarg of the

October Reuolution, Lenin wrote of the need tobuild socialism "not directly reiying on enthusiasm,

but airled by the enthusiasm. . . personal incentivcand business principles". This statement of Lenin'sconstitutes the basis of the policy followed in theSoviet Union on remuneration of labour. The so-cialist principle operative in the USSR on thispoint envisages that every participant in social la-bour will tre rewarded for his work, in accordancewith its quantity and quality, in money wages.

To carry this through, there must first of all beequal pay for equal work, and in this connectionsocialism has eliminated the formerly existing dis-crimination in payment according to sex, origin ornationality.

Secondly, rvork that differs in quantity and quali-ty must be rewarded differently. This is what en-sures that there is a material incentive for the work-er to increase the quantity and raise the qualityof his labour.

Wage levels in the USSR depend on the increasingof social production, and not on the market situa-tion, as happens in capitalist countries. The level islaid down by the Soviet state, on the basis of therelationship between funds of consumption andaccumulation.

In the Soviet Union there is a national system ofwage scales and rates of payment for the workersand of sal,ary scales for the remaining employees-engineering and technical personnel, including ma-nagers of factories, offices, etc., clerical workers ofvarious levels, service personnel, trainees, and soon. Most widespread are scales in which the toprate is twice the lowest rate (i.e. Grade I, accordingto which the unskilled workers are paicl).

Wage scalcs and rates of payment, salary scalesand bonus systems are approved by lhe Soviet go-vcrnment. This centralisation means that correct

)

differentials are maintained between.those employ-ed in the same field of work, wherever they maybe, and creates barriers to ttle emergence of arbi-trary decisions on this score in separate institu-tions and localities. It prevents a levelling down ofremuneration and ensures the maintenance of le-vels consistent with the quantity and quality ofwork done.

The rate of pay of a particular worker at an en-terprise is fixed in accordance with his qualiffca-tions and also with account for the difficulty andthe extent to which there may be any deviationfrom the 'desirable conditions of work (work in hotor particularly cold shops, in the air or undergro-und, with high levels of radiation, smoke, S&s,etc.).

The main form of remuneration for labour in in-dustry is payment by the job. This is subdividedinto what is known as the individual direct andunrestricted system; progressive payment by thejob; payment by the job plus bonus; piece rate;the team and indirect systems. Two-thirds of theworkers are paid by the job.

The time-rate system is also subdivided. It canbe simply what its name suggests, or may belinked with a bonus system.

With the indiuidual direct and unrestricted sgs'tem of pagment bg the job the rate remains un-changed for all output handed in by the worker.The rate is achieved by dividing the appropriatewage under the wage scale by the output quota.

With the sgstem of progressiue pagment bg thejob the worker is paid according to a sliding scalethat increases progressively as he overfulfils theoutput quotas established.

With the pagment bg the iob plus bonus systema ditect and unrestricted system of p,ayment by

22 2t

the job is combined with the arvard of bonusesfor achieving certain qualitative and quantitativeshowings.

Under the piece-rate system the actual earningsof the worker for a certain amount of work arefix,ed beforeftrand. If a group of worhers with iden-tical qualifications carry out work colilectively,and it is assessed as a wihole on a group rate, theyare paid by the team (or grou,p) system.

Payment by the time-rate system depends onthe actual time spent working and on the workers'qualifications. Under a sinnple time-rate system thesize of earnings is deterrrined by the wage scaleand the length of time worked. In practice hourly,daily and month,ly rates are in use.

With the time-rate and bonus system bonusesare paid on top of wages or salaries.

The overwhelming majority of managerial, en-

xity of the production processes and the economicsignificance of tthe branch of the economy or theenterprise in which they work.

Tha management of an enterprise has theright to decide which system of payment for la-bourr,vill be used, with the agreement of the ap-propriate trade union organisations.

Freedom of choice of a trade or profession crea-tes oonditions for a constant growth in real in-comes.

The Communist Party and the Soviet govern-ment pay unflagging attention to improving systemsancl forms of remuneration for labour. As a rule,fundamental measures in this connection are takenon a country-wide scale, in accordance with the

USSR's five-year cconomic development plans. Acharacteristic fleature of such measures is thatthey tackl,e a nurnber of important prokrlems atonce: raising minimum wages; raising wages andsalaries for middle-income industrial and officev-orkers; remedying payrnent systems for separategroups of working people, and raising the generalincome level of the population.

The successes achieved in Soviet economic de-velopment have created a firm material base fora continually rising standard of living. The natio-nal state income, the only source from whichwages and salaries can be raised, in 1974 alonerose by 14,000 million roubles to a figure of almost300,000 million roubles.

Wages and salaries and various increments areestablished with a view to attracting people towork in the most vital branches of the economy,the most important areas of the country from thispoint of view. For example, for work undergroundor in hot shops (in the coal or metallurgy indus-tries) higher wage and salary scales obtain 'than inother industries. In addition, length-of-service in-crements are paid to certain categories of peopleworking in the industries referred to. Such incre-ments are also paid to forestry workers and farmmachinery operators.

With a view to attracting man-power to theFar North and equivalent regions, wage and salaryincreases of 50 to 100 per cent have been intro-duced for people working in these parts of thecountry, the ac,tual size of the increase dependingupon length of service in these conditions. Here,as in parts of the Far East, East and West Sibe-ria and the north European part of the USSR aproportional increase is paid to compensate forthe additional expendil.ure necessitated by the na-

tural and climatic conditions in these areas, whichinvolve extra outgoings for food, warm clothing'heating, etc.

In some regions of the Irar North and equiva-lent areas all people working in state, co-opera-tive and public enlerprises, institutions and organi-sations receive a supplement to their monthly payirrespective of the local coefficient or their lengthof selvice. For instance, those working in theChukchi National Area, the Nort'h Evenk Districtof the Magadan Region, the Koryak National Area,the Al,eutian District of the Karnchalka Region, oron hhe is,lands in th'e Arctic Ooean and its seas (apartfrom islands in the White Sea) receive an additional10 per cent at the cncl of the first six rnonths, andanother 10 per cent for each subsequent sixmonths of work. The increase may rise to a limitof 100 per cent of a rvage or salarY.

People rvho work in parts of the Far Northfor at least 15 calendar years, or in equivalent:rrcas for at Ieast 20 years, receive pensions at55 (men) or 50 (women).

The introduction of these privileges has made itpossible in ithe main to solve the problem of find-ing manpower for areas of the Far North andequivalent areas, lvhich has facilitated the slrccess-ful opening up of natural wealth there, as *'ell as

for other parts of the Soviet Union with unfa-vourable climatic conditions, and also for a num-ber of branches of the ecouomy, including in-dustries rvith comparatively hard conditions oflrrolk.

There are a number of special features of re-muneration of labour in'the USSR which are pre-sent only in a socialist economy. For example,thc rvages fund is formed on the basis of the costof llroduction or the direct expenditure on the pro-

duction of a product plus part of the profits left atthe disposal of the enterprise concerned. Thismoney is spent both in accordance with wagerates and with the bonus arrangements in force,and also on salaries for engineering, technical andother staff. Bonuses for workers on the year's pro-duction results at the factory are also paid out ofthis fund.

Thele is another source from which paymentscan be made to tlre workers. From this fund, setup by the state, bonuses are paid for introducingnew machinery and mechanisms, for bringing intouse newly constructed capacities, achieving highresults in socialist competition between factories,saving fuel and power, making consumer goodsfrom production rvaste and scrap material, forincreasing the production of export goods, etc.

The wages lund is one of the most importantindicators of the economic plan. Its size dependson the amount of work envisaged in the plan(industrial and agricultural output, amount ofbuilding lvork, passenger and goods transport,etc.) , and also on the tasks set for increasing la-bour productivity and tLhe accepted levels of ave-rage earnings and the number of wage and salarystaff. It includes not only payments according tothe r,ates of remuneration in force and the posi-tion with regard to bonuses but also various typesof supplementary payrnents-for overtime, fornorrnal and additional holidays, for deviationsfrom normal conditions ,of work, for payrnent oflocal coefficients and long-service increments(where these are in force) , etc.

The fund does not remain constant for branchesof material production. Its size may increase ordiminish, since the issue of funds to enterprisesfor the payment of wages is carried out by agen-

26 2f

cics of the State Bank to the extent that the planof work is fulfilled. For example, in industry, whena factory fulfils its output plan by, say, 98 percent, it receives the same percentage of the rnoneydue to it for wages, while if it overfulfils its plan'the money it gets for wages is increased by anapproved coefficient (from 0.6 to 1) for each per-centage by which the output plan is overfullilled.

A similar system prevails in agriculture, trans-port and building. As for people working in non-productive branches of the economy, their wagefunds remain at a fixed level, and there do nothave to be any recalculations.

The wages fund plays a major r-ole indetermin-ing such important economic proportions as thebalance of income and expenditure of the popula-tion, total retail trade turnover, cash plan, etc-From the fund come 90 per cent of the wages andsalaries of factory ,and office workers. Conse-quently it is the most important factor in determin-ing incomes and living standards of the popula-tion.

The material incentiue fund is formed at eachenterprise, its size depending upon the extent ofsales of its products, on its profits, its level of ef-ficiency and growth in labour productivity. Todayit amounts to about 10 per cent of the total wagesfund.

The material incentive fund plays an importantpart in raising production efficiency, as can beseen rin the growth of profits in the past few years.In 1970 profits of industrial enterprises and econo-mic organisations v'ere 87,000 million roubles as

against 37,000 million in 1965, that is, an in-crease of 140 per cent during the eighth five-yearplan period. In 1973 the figure was 98,000 millionroubles !

l.'he payment of bonuses on the results of theyear's work of an enterprise-a so-called thrirteenthmonth's pay- increases the incentive for bothfactory and office workers to achieve higher eco-nomic indices and also encourages people to re-main in their jobs.

Working Hours and Coriditions

*

In June 1918 Lenin signed a decree grantingfactory and office workers the right to annualpaid holidays of two weeks. Even earlier, five daysafter the socialist revolution was carried throughin October 1917, the Council of People's Cornmis-sars of the RSFSR passed a decree establishing aneight-hour working day and a 48-hour workingweek. This is what Lenin had to say on thesubject: "Our adoption of a code of laws whichfirm'ly lays down the principle,s of labour legisla-tion such as the eight-hour day. . . is a tremendousachievement for Soviet rule."

The working week in industry was cut by 18hours and the rvorking day by 2-4 hours-in tsa-rist Russia it was 10-12 hours.

Today, a 40-hour week is in force in Soviet in-dustry, while other brarrches of the economy havea 39.4-hour week.

Everyone in the USSR who rvorks has the.rightto an annual holiday for which they receive theiraverage pay. Those who work in difficult condi-tions (underground, in hot shops, etc.) , in areas ofthe Far North and equivalent areas get extrapaid holiday. The extra holiday period ranges from

3 days to 36, and 55 million lvorkers enjoy this ad-ditional time.

Average annual holidays are now about threeand a half weeks.

People also have other kinds of paid leave-forstudy, to do creative work, sick leave, maternityleave, etc.

'fhe constant improvement of conditions of workis a law of the development of socialist production.The Soviet state and the trade unions devote agreat deal of attention to this question. One of thestate's main concerns is to protect the health ofthe working people, to ensure good safety condi-tions at work, and to cut out occupational diseasesand industrial injuries.

Standards of working conditions are laid downin Fundamental Labour Legislation of the USSRand the Union Republics. For example, the La-bour Code of the Russian Federation contains aspecial chapter on labour protection which laysdown the responsibility of managements to ensurehealthy and safe conditions of work at all enterpri-ses, offices and organisations.

The management's r.esponsibility includes theintroduction of modern means for ensuring safetywhich will rule out iudustrial injuries, and of stan-dards of hygiene precluding the development ofoccupational diseases. Labour protection require-ments must also be met during the constructionand use of production premises, machinery andequipment. Thesc requirements cover, among otherttrings, the rational use of territory and productionbuildings, the correct use of equipment and properorganisation of production processes, protectiouof workers from harmful conditions of work, themaintenance of production premises and workingplaces in accordance with health and hygiene

2)

norms and the provision of washrooms, lavatories,sick rooms, etc.

Designs of machine tools and other productionequipment have to conforu to the demands of safe-ty and industrial hygiene. It is forbidden by lawto bring into use or to put into serial productionequipment that does not accord with the rules oflabour protection.

Considerable funds and the necessary materialsare made available to cnterprises by the state forcarrying out labour protection measures, and it isforbidden to use them for any other purpose. So-viet trade unions check to see that these funds andmaterials are not misused. Furthermore, the,ir ag-reement is required before any new industrial en-terprise can be put into use-this is refused if itdoes not provide all essential services for its work-ers or does not satisfy health requirements.Trade union committees have the right to demandthat work stop irr a shop or in an entire enterpriseif safety requirements there are not observed.

Replenishing the Work Force

Because of the Soviet Union's high econornic de-velopment rates vast nurnbers of workers haveconstantly to be drawn into production. The scaleand complexity of this problem may be judgedfrom the fact that between 1928 and 1973 thenumber of workers employed in the economy hasrisen by 60 million.

The problem of keeping the developing nationaleconomy supplied with manpower year by yearis complicated by the fact that in a number of

30 ,r

areas the demand for manpower exceeds the sup-ply. This is true, above all, of parts of the FarEast, East Siberia, the Urals and Kazakhstan,which have vast sources of power and raw mate-rials. The problem of supplying them with man-power is being tacklcd in a variety of ways-firstly, by providing new enterprises with ad-vanced modern machinery and equipment.

Secondly, measures are taken to attract man-power to the Far North, Far East, and Kazakhstanfrom other parts of the country where it is beingused to less eflect. 'Ihe chief way of doing this isby offering material incentives-big supplementsto wages and salaries, long-service increments,extra holidays and privileged pension conditions.

'Ihirdly, training and re-training facilities areprovided at state expense in accordance with theneeds of particular branches of the economy andof economic regions. In 1974 alone about 25 mil-lion people learnt new trades or improved theirskills at industrial enterprises, institutions and or-ganisations.

IIow can new forces be found for the Soviet eco-nomy? Primarily by drawing in young people asthey reach working age. Then come housewivesand people engaged primarily with work on theiro'wn plot of land, and after that pensioners andpeople who have retired because of industrialinjury or occupatiional diseases-mauy of these canhe employed on certain types of work.

A differentiated approaoh is required to draw inthese groups of people. For example, as youngpeople leave higher, secondary, specialised se-condary, or vocational schools they receive theirappointment to jobs on a planned basis. Each ashe leaves his educational institution is offered ajob in accordance with his qualifications. In 1974

a total of 3.7 million people from higher schools,specialised secondary schools and vocationalschools started work in the national economy,1.4 million more than in 1973.

During the summer holidays student detach-ments consisting of young people studying at uni-versities, institutes, specialised secondary schoolsand vocational schools, and also senior schoolpupils take part in social production. Thisgives them practical experience of production andan opportunity to see more of the life of rtheircountry. In addition they earn good money.

In order to satisfy additional needs for man-power there is also a redistribution going on of peo-ple within individual branches of the economyand between different branches-these are peoplewho are already working in production. This ie-distribution of forces is carried out on a purelyvoluntary principle, by the organised transferof workers.

Lo'cal bodies concerned with the use of m,an-power systematicatly bring to public notice the man-power requirements of construction sites and in-dustrial enterprises. With workers rvho want itogo off and work on projects short of manpowerthese bodies conclude on behalf of the site or en-terprise one- to three-year labour contracts, whichprovide for the transport of the worker, his fami-ly and his baggage to the place of work.

Workers who go off in this way to rvork else-where are given non-repayable grants, the sizeof which depeuds upon the length of the labourcontract, the area and Lhe branch of the economyto which the enterprise or site belongs. Fares andtransport of baggage are paid for, and there is adaily subsistence allowance covering the time ofthe journey.

As regards the rbcruitment to production ofable-bodied people engaged solely in household dtt-ties or looking after their little plot of land, forexample, betrn'een 1969 and 1971 more than 2.9million such people were drawn into social pro-duction.

In a number of branchcs ttf thc econorny andecorrnmic regiolrs perrsioncrs ale attractetl to lvorkto the extg11 ol' thcir capaltilitics, tntl thcy con-tinue to rcceivc their pcnsions in ad<lition to theirwage s.

It must bc emphasised that all forms used fordrawing Soviet people into work in the econornyare purely voluntary. Only the planned allocationof iobs to graduates of full-time cducational insti-tutions is compulsory (for a period of two years).

The USSR has an extensive system of vocationalschools, courscs and other facilities for trainingskilled workers, and in the Sth five-year plan pe-riod (1966-70) they trained more than 30 millionpeople for thc econolny-skilled workers of allLira.. The figurc for the 9th five-year plan periodis 38.5 million.

Vocational schools have a special role to playin training skilled workers. There are nearly 6,000

of them in the country, r'vith a total of about 3 mil-lion sttrclents. In 1974 they turned out 1-9 mil-lion shillecl r'vorkcrs an<l took in 2.2 million boysand girls.

cation so that they may go on if they wish to entera higher educational institution. In 1974 more than

400,000 boys and girls entered vocational schoolsin rvhich they will be able to lealn a trade andfinish their secondary education.

Full Employrlent ancl Its Problems

*

Full employment of the poptllaLknr of the IISSRin socially usefrrl v'orl< brings in its train spccificproblems and certain difficultics in its implemcnta-tion following from the concrete situation. Onesuch problem is the rclative shortage of manpowerin various fields of the economy.

The natural growth of the able-bodie<l popula-tion is no longer sufficient to cover thc ncecls ofproduction for additional manpower.

Difficulties like this are tackled by consl-antly,and in a planned rvay, r:aising the technical lcvelof production and increasing labour productivity,lghich make it possible to rclcase rvorkers and re-distributc them in accorrlitnce lvith need. Forexample, the risc in the level of inclustrialisationof rvork in agriculturc and forestry has made itpossible to halve the perccnlage of the populationworking in these sphercs and consequently to in-crease the percentage engaged in other fields, par-ticularly in non-prodtictivc sphercs.

Othet problems arising frorn full employmentunder socialism include thc usc of labour reriollrcesof small torvns and villages, ancl timely guidancein the choicc of occupation.

In srnall towns and rural areas young peoplecannot always fincl employment that suits theirtastes and inclinations, and they are obligcd toleave their home town or village. This problem

is nolv bcing tackled by transfer-ring irltlustry frombig cities to srnall towns ancl also by creating insuch towns branches of large enterprises, develop-ing industrial-agrarian cornplexes in rural areas,and so on.

The rise in the general educational le'r'el of youngpeople has brought to prominence the question ofgiving timely guiclance in the choice of occupation.Boys and girls with ten-yeat secondary educationhave naturally begun to look for u'ork in accor-dance rvith their qualifications. But this tendencyis also in the economic intelests of the country, as

can be seen from the fact that general ten-yearsecondary education has been introduced in theUSSR. Automation and mechanisation of produc-tion processes is going on a wide scale, which in-creases efficiency and provides opportunities foryoung people to make fuller use of their know-ledge.

One big problem arising from the scientific andtechnological revolution is the need for a rapidincrease in skilled people at all levels, from work-er to manager. In 197tr-75 nine million skilledworkers were trained in vocational schoo]s, anda similar number of trained specialists graduatedfrom higher and specialised secondary schools.Iiurthermore, tens of millions of workers in va-rious blanches of the economy have undergone orare undergoing retraining without charge or aremastering related trades.

It is, I think, obvious that this problem canonly be tackled on so vast a scale if education isavailable to all. trn the USSR there are no obstaclesof a material naturc (education is free, from schoolto university), of a class or any other character.Entry to any educational establishrnent dependsonly on one's own elTorts and abilities and the

knowledge already acquired in life. The problem infact lies in its very magnitude--unprecedentedeven in the Soviet Union, which has more peoplestudying than any other country. Its solution in-volves immense expenditure by the state, the con-struction of schools and colleg;es of all kinds, thesupply oI' equiprnent to them and the provisionof highly compctent teaching staff. F'inally, it in-volves the popularisation of ncw trades and pr-ofes-sions born of scienti{ic antl Iechlrological pr-ogress,the cotrccn[ration of ct'cativc forces on nerv {ieltlsof science.

Any student of the educational institution knolvsthat thc diploma he will leceive will be more thana mere piece of paper. The possessor of a diplomais appointed to work in the field, in the organisa-tion rvhich he himself selects from the applicationsreceivecl by ttrre educational institution at which hestudies.

There are also qucstions of making the most ef-fective and rational use in production of peoplewho though they have reached pension age are stillcapable of working and rvant to continue, to passon the experience tlley have accumulated (in theSoviet Union the pension age is 55 for women and60 for rnen. In some occupations the age levelsare still lower) .

One of the major problems is how best to im.prove the system of rnanagement, distribution andredistribution of the country's lvork force. Sovietsociety conducts c.onstant research to discover so-lutions to the problems that arise-and it findssolutions. But life all the time throws up more andmore new questions. The forecasting of tl'rose prob-lems, and the search for ways and means of tackl-ing them are part of the very essence of pl,anningthe national economy as a single entity and manag-

ing it on the principle of democratic centralisrnrvhich combines activity of selec.ted and accoun-table central bodies with the creative initi,ative ofthe people.

In the tlansiliorr periorl fronr capilalisrrr Irl soci-alism Soviet t-.conolnic gtorvth was to a conside-lable degree clue to extensive methocls, that is, byincreasing capital investments, the constructionof new enterprises and the recruitment of newlvork force. In the new conditions of mature so-cialist society in the USSR intensive factors of eco-nonric development have become predominant, thzrtis the raising of production efficiency by substan-l.ially speeding up scientific and technological acl-vance. This is facilitated by an improvecl structureof production, the output of technically more mo-dern machinery and equipment and new materials,the production of a wider range of goods ancl ofbetter quality, and also by improvements in thesystem of planning and managing the economy.

'Ihe socialist plannecl economy opens up thewidest possible horizons for the all-round acl-vancement of science and technology. The radicalturn taken in the development of procluctivc forcesunder the influence of science will becomc increas-ingly significant and far-reaching. Progress in sci-ence and technology is the main instrument folcreating the material and technical basis for com-munisrn. That was why the 24th Congress of theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union set thr,: taskof organically combining the achievements of thescientific and technological revolution with theudvantnges of the socialist cconolnic syst(rm.

In the current five-year plan periorl (1971-75)high ancl stable growth rates in all branches ofproduction, a constant increase in labour producti-vity and a constant risc in living staudarcls havcbeen secured by the u,-icle use of thc achicvementsof the scientiflc and technological revolution inthe interests of the whole of Soviet society and im-provement in the structure of the economy andits management.

The 1971-75 economic plan envisaged that in-creased labour productivity, not the recruitment ofmore manpower, would account for 80-85 per centof the growth of national income, 87 per cent ofthe increase in industrial output and the entireincrease in agricultural outPut.

In these five years labour productivity in indus-try has risen by 39 per cent above the 1970 figure,while in construction the increase is 37 per cent,and in agriculture 38 Per cent.

Lenin's idea that high labour productivity is themain and decisive condition for the victory of thtlnelv social system is today as valid as ever.

H. PoroBCt(uilTPYA I,{ 3AHflTOCTI, B CCCP

Ha anztuilcrcon. sLsttrce

llctta l2 ttott

N. ROGOVSKYTYork and Employment

tn thc USSR

Dcar Reader,

Nov<.rsti Prcss Agency Pul-rlishing IIousc would l-ro cx-

trcurcly gral-cful if you would compk:te thc fo'llowing qtrcs-

lionn:rire ald relurn it to:Nor.osti Prcss Agcttcy I'ublishiug IIt-rusr:

13/5 Podholokolny Pcrculolt,NIoscow, USSR

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l{. PoroucxttfiTPyA l-r 3AHrll'oCTb B C(:CP

Ha aHztLlicKoil nsblKc