7904 
 
 INST. IND. 
 m. LIB. 
 
 Kaplun 
 
 The Protection of Iiabor 
 in Soviet Russia
 
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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 SOVIET RUSSIA PAMPHLETS. No. 4 
 
 The Protection of 
 Labor in Soviet Russia 
 
 BY 
 
 S. KAPLUN 
 
 of the Commissariat of Labtfr 
 
 Price 10 Cents 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 The Russian Soviet Government Bureau 
 
 110 West 40th Street 
 
 Institute of Industrial Relations 
 
 University of California 
 
 Los Angeles 24, California
 
 THE Russian Soviet Government 
 Bureau has issued a series of 
 pamphlet reprints of important 
 Soviet documents. The following are 
 the first four of these pamphlets: 
 
 (1) The Labor Laws of Soviet Russia. Official 
 text, with introduction, by the Bureau and an answer 
 to a criticism by Mr, W. C. Redfield. Second Edition. 
 52 pages, stiff cover, price 10 cents. 
 
 (2) The Laws on Marriage and Domestic Re- 
 lations. To be ready about September 1st. Price 
 1 5 cents. 
 
 (3) Two Years of Foreign Policy, by George 
 Chicherin. The relations of the Russian Socialist 
 Federal Soviet Republic with foreign nations, from 
 November 7, 1917, to November 7, 1919. 36 pages, 
 stiff paper cover, price 10 cents. 
 
 (4) Protection of Labor in Soviet Russia, by 
 S. Kaplun, of the People's Commissariat of Labor. 
 This pamphlet, an interpretation of the labor laws of 
 Soviet Russia, is necessary to a full understanding 
 of these laws, and readers should therefore order it 
 in addition to their copies of the laws. This pamphlet 
 has never been published in "Soviet Russia," Price 
 10 cents. 
 
 Other pamphlets will follow. Special rates for 
 quantities. 
 
 Addresss 
 
 "SOVIET RUSSIA" 
 
 Room 304 
 
 110 West 40th Street New York, N. Y. 
 
 Are yoH reading our weekly, "Soviet Russia," the offi- 
 cial organ of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau f
 
 o.'\ 
 
 The Protection of 
 Labor in Soviet Russia 
 
 S. KAPLUN 
 
 of the Commissariat of Labor 
 
 ,<:<^^^^S1 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 The Russian Soviet Government Bureau 
 
 110 West 40th Street 
 
 1920
 
 NOTE ON THE TEXT 
 
 The present essay is a study of the operation 
 of the Labor Laws of the Soviet Republic, which 
 were printed as the first pamphlet of this series. 
 
 The present pamphlet zvas originally printed at 
 Petrograd in English in 1920, and the present 
 edition is a reprint of the Petrograd copy, with 
 only such alterations as zvere necessary from 
 the standpoints of English and typographical 
 correctness.
 
 Jnst. Indas. 
 
 Ill: 
 
 PROTECTION OF LABOR IN SOVIET RUSSIA. 
 
 1. Protection of iJabor in Soviet Russia before the 
 establlslunent of tlie Soviet GoAernment. 
 
 The Soviet Government, the government of the 
 worlcers and the poorest peasants, was the first 
 seriously to raise in Russia the question of social 
 protection of labor. 
 
 Under the Czarist Government, which was the 
 embodiment of the whip and the fist, all the instruc- 
 tions and wishes of the landlord class and big ma- 
 nufacturers were faithfully carried out.^ Naturally 
 enough, factory legislation was in a more backward 
 state than in any other part of the world. In ac- 
 cordance with the Law of 1897, the working day 
 ofllcially was lli/^ hours, while in reality the work- 
 man was compelled to work far longer than that; 
 this was due to the great amount of overtime — 
 compulsory and "uncompulsory", the latter only on 
 paper; — in actual life extreme destitution and the 
 complete absence of rights of the workers com- 
 pelled them fully to submit to all the proposals of 
 the manufacturers. Children were permitted to go 
 to work even at the age of 12; according to the 
 law of 1882 youngsters up to the age of 15 were 
 forbidden to be engaged at night work, whilst dur- 
 ing the day their labor was not to exceed 8 hours. 
 
 Even these inadequate laws, however, soon appear- 
 ed to be too great a compromise in the eyes of the 
 "European gendarme", and subsequently Czarism 
 gave to the manufacturers a great number of loop- 
 holes and means to evade the law. The first step 
 in this direction was the permission of uninterrupt- 
 ed 6 hour work Instead of the former 4 hours work 
 for children. When working two shifts children 
 3 
 
 973540
 
 were allowed to be engaged for 9 hours a day dur- 
 ing the two shifts instead of the maximum 8 hour 
 working day according to the law of 1882. Night 
 work was permitted for children in the glass industry, 
 although from a hygienic point of view this is one 
 of the most harmful trades; yet this night work was 
 permitted owing to the fact that it was demanded 
 by the interests of the industrial magnates. Further, 
 the factory inspection was given the right t? per- 
 mit Sunday and holiday work for children. Finally, 
 night work, which was generally prohibited by law 
 to children and women could be sanctioned by the 
 factory and works managements, or by the governor 
 of the gubernia, in all cases where such children 
 were engaged in work together with their parents, 
 that is to say, this night work became a general rule. 
 
 With regard to the protection of woman labor, 
 nothing at all was undertaken. No care whatsoever 
 was taken of the sanitary and hygienic state of 
 factories or workshops. In the sphere of technical 
 safety and safeguards from dangerous machines, the 
 government acted very timidly, almost refraining 
 from establishing any important rules or obligatory 
 regulations. 
 
 Little can be said of the rights of the workers. 
 Absolute rule of the employer, endless fines and 
 impositions, dismissal of workers without serious 
 reason, constant interference of the police, and arm- 
 ed force at the first signs of agitation of the work- 
 ers, — such Is the well remembered picture of 
 Russian factory life. Equally little was done in the 
 sphere of social maintenance of the workers in the 
 event of loss of livelihood. Social insurance, which 
 was established only in 1903, and was more or less 
 developed by the legislation of 1912, provided only 
 for cases of sickness and accidents. But in spite of 
 the fact that the workers were heavily taxed for 
 state insurance, unemployable men were given a 
 most beggarly assistance. And even here insurance 
 did not by any means embrace all the workers. 
 
 Especially important was the character of those 
 organs which were charged with the enforcement
 
 of the laws for the protection of labor. The direct 
 agents of supervision were the factory inspectors rr-r 
 state of35cials who submissively carried out all the 
 instructions of capital. 
 
 In accordance with the laws, instructions, and 
 circulars, they were to work in the closest possible 
 collaboration with the police and were even direct- 
 ly subordinated to the governor of the gubernia 
 in question. One of their principal tasks was to 
 prevent strikes and fight every strike that occurred. 
 The leading local organ of factory supervision was 
 the so-called gubernia board of administration for 
 factories and mines. The composition of this board 
 is quite characteristic: the governor presides and 
 the entire upper local hierarchy are members of 
 this board: the vice-governor, the public prosecutor, 
 the chief of police, the chief factory inspector, and 
 the district engineer. To endow this constellation 
 with greater authority, another element interested 
 in protection of labor was introduced, namely: four 
 members of the local manufacturers and factory 
 proprietors. It is obvious, therefore, that under 
 Czarism protection of labor was actually turned 
 into protection of capital against labor. 
 
 When Russian Czarism gave place to that miser- 
 able miscarriage — the Coalition Government, re- 
 presenting a mixture of the big industrial bourgeoisie 
 with the anaemic middle class personified by the 
 Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Mensheviks, pro- 
 tection of labor ceased to be a scarecrow. But It is 
 plain enough that the vacillating Menshevik oppor- 
 tunist Ministry of Labor, ever apprehensive of en- 
 croaching upon the interests of the bourgeoisie, was 
 not capable of serious work in this sphere. The 
 result of this is that for the 8 months from Feb- 
 ruary to October 1917, only pitiful attempts were 
 made with regard to protection of labor, the most 
 characteristic of which is the project of "labor In- 
 spection" consisting in the appointment of higher 
 specialists and of workers who were to act only in 
 the capacity of "assistants". In every other respect 
 the old Czarist laws remained Inviolate, and in ad- 
 
 6
 
 dition to this, constant deviation was allowed In the 
 interests of the bourgeoisie upon the first demand 
 of the kings of "national" capital.
 
 11. The Soviet Goveminent and Protection of 
 Labor. 
 
 The position radically changed when the revo- 
 lutionary proletariat overthrew the political, and 
 what is still more important, the economic domi- 
 nation of the propertied classes, and in alliance with 
 the poorest part of the peasantry took the power 
 into its hands. Protection of labor instantly became 
 one of the most important and serious aspects of 
 Soviet work. The importance that was attached 
 to protection of labor by the Soviet Government can 
 be judged from the fact that on the 29th of October, 
 1917,* four days after the proclamation of proleta- 
 rian dictatorship, a decree was published on "the 
 length and distribution of working time"; this decree 
 instantly provided an introductory code of laws for 
 the protection of labor, embodying all the old revo- 
 lutionary demands of the working class, such as the 
 eight hour working day, a number of measures in 
 the field of protection of child and woman labor, 
 and so forth. 
 
 Owing to the fact that our industry has been al- 
 most entirely nationalized by this time, and is 
 administered by organs of proletarian dictatorship 
 our protection of labor now takes place, not as form- 
 erly, in a struggle against the big employers, but on 
 the contrary, in complete agreement and in close col- 
 laboration with the industrial organs. Our real 
 achievements in protection of labor increase in pro- 
 portion to the growth of the power of the Soviet 
 Government and the improvement of its internation- 
 al, political and economic position. The Soviet Go- 
 vernment's entire work on labor protection rests on 
 the very effective creative activity of the masses of 
 the workers. For this reason our state organs of 
 
 November 11, 1917 New Style. 
 7
 
 labor protection are established by the Trade Unions, 
 and are elected by the Trade Union amalgama- 
 tions, and their activity is carried on in close con- 
 tact with the Trade Unions. Finally, labor protec- 
 tion in Russia embraces without exception all wage 
 workers, contrary to the Western countries. Our 
 labor protection laws are equally applied to large 
 works and factories, as well as to crafts, to home 
 industries, to transport and agricultural laborers, 
 to clerks, shop assistants and domestic servants. 
 
 1. Working Hours 
 
 The laws passed as early as November, 1917, 
 have legislated an 8-hour working day, a measure 
 In its time carefully avoided by the compromising 
 government of Kerensky, Subsequently this law 
 was confirmed in the "Code of Labor Laws" issued 
 on the 10th of December 1918.* Overtime is allow- 
 ed only as an exception, in cases where production 
 is of extreme social importance and when it is not 
 possible correspondingly to increase the number of 
 workers or to arrange the work In two or three 
 shifts. In all such cases the sanction is required 
 of the trade unions for tax on all overtime, in ad- 
 dition to which the confirmation of the inspector 
 of labor is also required. All overtime work is paid 
 for as time and a half. In accordance with the 
 Code of labor laws the standard of night work for 
 every worker is established as seven hours instead 
 of eight, but is paid for as eight hours. 
 
 But not all workers work eight hours. All mental 
 and sedentary workers, in view of the mental strain 
 incurred, have a 6 hours working day. In except- 
 ionally difficult or harmful work, such as tobacco 
 manufacture, gas works, certain chemical works, and 
 80 forth, the working day is reduced to 7 and even 
 to 6 hours a day. 
 
 During the working day an interval for dinner is 
 
 • The Code of Labor Laws, as published by the Commissariat 
 of Justice, was reprinted, with several interpretative essays, 
 by the Russian Soviet Government Bureau, Price Ten Centa.
 
 established at every factory, lasting from 30 mi- 
 nutes to 2 hours, during which the worker can re- 
 cuperate to some extent. Every worker is entitled 
 to a weekly rest which is to consist of 42 hours con- 
 tinuous and uninterrupted. Therefore on the eve 
 of all holidays factories are closed two hours be- 
 fore the usual time. In all work which cannot be stop- 
 ped even for a single day (as in the case of nurses, 
 engine-drivers, tramway, electric or gas workers, 
 etc.), the workers are afforded a day's rest some 
 other day of the week instead of the regular holiday. 
 Finally, in Russia for the first time in the history 
 of industry, obligatory leave with the preservation 
 of the full wage or salary has been introduced for 
 all workers and employees. Every worker who has 
 been employed either in one or in several places for 
 six continuous months is entitled, according to the 
 "Code of Labor Laws" to a fortnight's leave, those 
 who have worked for a year to a month's leave. In 
 view of the great economic crisis, only a fortnight's 
 leave is permitted at the present time, with the ex- 
 ception of all workers engaged in harmful produc- 
 tion, as well as children, all of whom are given an 
 additional fortnight's leavej 
 
 2. Protection of Female Labor 
 
 One of the most important aspects of the acti- 
 vity of labor protection is the protection of women, 
 which is an essential condition for the health of 
 the children of the proletariat. In accordance with 
 the Code of Labor Laws, all underground, night and 
 overtime work for women in Russia is forbidden. 
 
 Particular attention is paid to pregnant women. 
 Expectant mothers engaged in physical labor are 
 liberated 8 weeks prior to confinement. Women en- 
 gaged in mental labor, which has a smaller infiuence 
 than physical labor, upon the child, during the 
 mother's period of pregnancy, are liberated from 
 their work 6 weeks prior to confinement. Every wo- 
 man worker or employee is fully paid during the 
 whole period of leave. Having given birth, all wo- 
 men are freed from work for another period of 8 
 9
 
 weeks in the case of physical workers or 6 weeks in 
 the case of mental workers, with full pay. 
 
 To give the mother an opportunity herself to 
 feed the child, which is of great importance for its 
 health and development, a half hour's leave after 
 every three hours of work is granted to every wo- 
 man who feeds her child by breast. Wherever 
 possible nurseries are established at all large enter- 
 prises, where the mother is able to leave her child un- 
 der proper care during her working hours and feed it 
 during the intervals. In a number of towns special 
 "Mother and Child" houses have been established 
 where the woman worker can pass the last months 
 of her pregnancy as well as the period of lactation 
 and can learn the art of rearing her child. In ad- 
 dition to this, in order to raise the general level of 
 the life of the mother who feeds her child by breast, 
 every woman worker is granted an additional sub- 
 sidy during the period of lactation; in Moscow this 
 amounts to 600 roubles per month. Immediately 
 after having given birth, a special grant is made 
 to the extent of a fortnight's miinimum pay (720 
 roubles for Moscow) for the baby's clothes and all 
 other necessaries. 
 
 All this greatly aids in preserving the health of 
 the woman worker and her capacity to produce 
 healthy, normal offspring for the proletariat, which 
 forms an essential basis of the building of the future 
 of the victorious class. 
 
 10
 
 III. CWld Labor. 
 
 In all countries the protection of labor and the 
 protection of children from, the heartless exploita- 
 tion of capital met insurmountable obstacles in the 
 shape of private profits. Only the Soviet Govern- 
 ment has set itself to the task of actually saving 
 the young proletarian generation from premature 
 degeneration, the effect produced by hard daily 
 work upon the young and still weak organisms. 
 
 According to our laws children under the age of 
 16 are not allowed to engage in any work. In spe- 
 cial cases children of 14 — 16 may be given work, 
 only with the permission of the Labor Inspector 
 and only in such cases where there is acute material 
 need and where it is impossible to establish them 
 in schools, honnes and other State institutions. For 
 all young children who have not reached the age 
 of 16, and who are already working in factories, etc. 
 a four hours working day is established. Minors 
 (between the ages of 16 and 18) do not work long- 
 er than six hours a day. All minors who have not 
 reached the age of 18 are forbidden overtime, night 
 work and underground work. 
 
 Children of tender age (up to 14 years of age) 
 who are found working in any enterprise are gradu- 
 ally withdrawn from the work; every care being 
 taken that these children are not left idle or with- 
 out means of existence and thus do not fall into the 
 hands of street speculation. They are withdrawn 
 from work only when it becomes possible to estab- 
 lish them in schools, in children's communes, or 
 other educational institutions. At the same time, 
 wherever a child gave financial assistance to its 
 family, the latter is correspondingly recompensed. 
 In the withdrawing of children from work as well 
 as in protection of child labor, the League of Youth 
 and the trade unions are participating. 
 11
 
 Special care is also taken that children are not 
 engaged in harmful, dangerous or hard work and 
 that their work should at the same time serve as 
 a school for their future occupations. The reduced 
 working day for children and minors is paid fully 
 according to the tariff scale. 
 
 \Z
 
 rv. Sanitary and Technical Protection of liabor. 
 
 The problem of protection of labor is not only 
 the struggle against the degeneration of the pro- 
 letariat by establishing, by means of legislation, con- 
 ditions of labor, protection against overwork, and 
 especially against undue strain and exhaustion of its 
 weaker elements, women and children, but also 
 to effect real improvements and changes in the 
 general conditions in which the workman lives. 
 With this object in view special attention is paid 
 to the sanitary and hygienic construction of enter- 
 prises, to the housing problem, hospitals, schools, 
 nurseries and so forth. Measures are also taken to 
 prevent accidents, by means of a proper construction 
 of industrial buildings, machinery safeguards, in- 
 spection of steam boilers, lifts, and so forth. 
 
 It is of course impossible immediately to achieve 
 important results in this sphere. The old form 
 of production, which was mainly concerned with the 
 profit of the owners, took no care whatsoever of 
 the health of the workers. As a result of this we 
 are left with a legacy from the bourgeoisie of close, 
 filthy, dark and technically badly equipped enter- 
 prises, in which the worker daily ruins his health, 
 and which have acquired the appropriate name of 
 "exhausters". The Soviet Government has com- 
 menced a serious battle against dust, high tempe- 
 rature, poisonous fumes and gases and other in- 
 dustrial evils. A number of compulsory regulations 
 of a sanitary and technical character, applying to 
 all enterprises, as well as to individual forms of pro- 
 duction, have been established^ The organs of 
 Inspection of Technical and Sanitary conditions of 
 labor take all measures for every possible improve- 
 ment as to safety, industrial hygiene and sanitation. 
 
 The housing conditions of the working class are 
 closely connected with their conditions of labor, and 
 13
 
 therefore the organs of the Protection of Labor 
 pay particular attention to the housing question. 
 Detailed regulations concerning the construction 
 and furnishing, etc., of the houses in connection with 
 the factories and works are issued by the People's 
 Commissariat for Labor. This Commissariat has 
 also drawn up model plans of houses and separate 
 workers' dwellings, as well as of whole workers' set- 
 tlements where the demands of hygiene fully coincide 
 with comfort and economy. In the various loca- 
 lities every measure is taken to improve the sani- 
 tary conditions of the workers' dwellings and to 
 reduce the prevailing lack of room. The entire 
 working class is interested in taking part in the im- 
 provement of housing conditions, furnishing etc., 
 through their factory committees. An extensive 
 sanitary and educational activity is carried on 
 among them for this purpose. 
 
 14
 
 V. Other Questions of Protection of Labor. 
 
 The above questtions exhaust by no means the 
 ma,ny-sided legislative activity of the Protection of 
 Labor organs in Soviet Russia: it is impossible to deal 
 with them fully in a small pamphlet. I will point out 
 in brief the following aspects of it. At present every 
 worker engaged in physical labor is supplied free 
 of charge with working clothing made according 
 to the requirements of labor protection. In addition 
 to these, in all factories which expose workers to a 
 danger of poisoning, or where the workers are sub- 
 ject to dampness or filth, etc., special protective 
 clothing is supplied. The standard and kind of 
 such clothing and footwear, as well as the category 
 of workers to be supplied, is defined by the People's 
 Commissariat of Labor. All working men and wo- 
 men engaged in harmful trades are supplied with 
 soap, free of charge, in spite of the acute shortage 
 of soap in the Soviet Republic. 
 
 Protection of labor includes not only persons em- 
 ployed in the ordinary way but also those who are 
 subject to labor service. The Soviet Government 
 as a proletarian dictatorship which is based on 
 labor makes an effort to assure normal and healthy 
 conditions for the labor of those who have been mo- 
 bilized for work. Special regulations regarding the 
 application of the Code of Laws to labor service have 
 been drawn up, in connection with which there 
 have also been established special commissions for 
 the proper utilization of labor. The question has 
 now been put forward regarding the establishment 
 of special organs of the protection of labor in con- 
 nection with the labor armies. Notwithstanding 
 the difficult conditions of the present moment, the 
 People's Corrkmissariat of Labor is carrying on scien- 
 tific investigation of harmful trades. In accordance 
 with the fundamental principles of the Soviet Govern- 
 15
 
 ment the working masses themselves are attracteS 
 to this work. The Trade Unions in conjunction with 
 doctors and engineers study in detail the circum- 
 stances and conditions of work of every individual 
 trade. At the present time the Department of 
 Protection of Labor of the Labor Commissariat is 
 organizing a special institute for the study of labor ; 
 a number of experimental laboratories, clinics 5or 
 trade diseases and cabinets for medical statisti'^s 
 have been established. This Institute is to serve as 
 the first scientific establishment in Russia in connet- 
 tion with questions of the protection of labor, after 
 the type of similar institutions in the largest centres 
 of Western Eurppe and America. The People's 
 Comniissariat of Labor has, at the same time, estab- 
 lished an experimental study of the qviestions of 
 a hygienic labor efficiency. Fully recognizing the 
 necessity of a scientific organization of production 
 Soviet Russia cannot, however, completely accept 
 the system of Taylor and other American engineers, 
 who fail to take into consideration the interests 
 and the health of the workers. The problem of 
 the hygienic efficiency of labor is to unite all the 
 scientifically correct and rational foundations of the 
 Taylor system with the needs of physiology and 
 labor hygiene. 
 
 It is necessary to mention the extensive cultural 
 and educational work which is being carried on 
 directly at the factories and works, and in the very 
 thick of the working masses, by the organs of labor 
 protection. One of the basic principles of our work 
 is the effort to make of every workman, even of 
 the most backward, an intelligent factor for his 
 own labor protection. To this end the Inspectors of 
 Labor and other workers in the sphere of the pro- 
 tection of labor continuously arrange lectures and 
 reports on various subjects of labor legislation, of 
 the history of the protection of labor, of hygiene, 
 sanitation and safety. 
 
 16
 
 VI. Inspection of Labor. 
 
 One of the chief questions of the organization 
 of labor protection with which the Soviet Govern- 
 ment was faced, is the establishment of an insti- 
 tution for the supervision of the proper realization 
 of labor protection laws. The revolutionary ele- 
 ments of the proletariat of all countries have always 
 put forward the demand that labor inspection should 
 be transferred to the labor organizations. But even 
 the so called "Revolutionary" Government of the 
 first period of the Russian Revolution did not dare 
 to take this measure. Like certain Western Eu- 
 ropean countries, it considered it the maximum of 
 radicalism to admit even as assistants in this in- 
 spection, workers who enjoyed no authority or 
 rights. These assistants had no right to be 
 connected with any labor organization and their 
 whole business was to represent a semi-actual re- 
 presentation of the proletariat in the organization 
 of the protection of labor. Only an assistant who 
 had passed four months in this unenviable role 
 of offlcial and who had by this time completely 
 estranged himself from the masses could become 
 an inspector of labor. 
 
 The proletarian revolution, of course, instantly 
 put an end to this system and realized the old 
 revolutionary motto of elected labor inspection. By 
 the decree of the 7th of May, 1918, the old labor 
 inspection, hateful to the Russian working class, 
 was abolished, and in its place was established a 
 purely proletarian labor inspection. The principal 
 decree was furthermore developed and supplement- 
 ed with a number of orders, instructions and cir- 
 culars. 
 
 Labor inspectors are elected at labor conferences 
 of representatives of trade unions and of factory 
 and works committees of those districts in vhiclj 
 17
 
 they are to serve. Only where the convening of such 
 conferences is impossible, do the elections take place 
 at the local trade union councils. In this way the 
 closest contact between the labor inspectors and 
 the working masses by whom they are delegated 
 is secured. The election process in itself is of 
 the greatest educational and propaganda import- 
 ance. At these elections working masses beconie 
 acquainted with the general principles and practice 
 of the protection of labor in Soviet Russia, as well as 
 with the decrees and instructions, in connection with 
 labor protection. The delegates visit their localities 
 and make reports concerning the conference, and 
 in this manner obtain the direct participation of 
 the masses in the work of labor protection. 
 
 Upon his election, the Inspector of labor, though 
 directly subordinated to the Labor Department 
 works at the same time in close contact with all 
 the local trade unions and also carries out all the 
 instructions of the local council of trade unions, 
 which is empowered to withdraw any inspector who 
 may turn out to be inefficient. The supervision of 
 the labor inspector includes all the workers and 
 employees of his district, independent of whether 
 they are engaged in small or large branches of in- 
 dustry, in private or state factories, in civil, mili- 
 tary or militarized enterprises or institutions. 
 
 The labor inspector makes a systematic tour of 
 all the industrial enterprises and institutions of his 
 district, which he is authorized freely to enter 
 at any time of the day or night, as well as to visit 
 any place where work is carried on, as well as every 
 kind of building in any way connected with the 
 workers, such as dwelling houses, hospitals, baths, 
 kindergartens, nurseries, homes, schools and so forth. 
 During visits to the various enterprises the admi- 
 nistration and owners of such are bound to afford 
 every assistance to the inspector and must not re- 
 fuse to give explanations on the plea of trade sec- 
 recy, which has been abolished by the proletarian 
 revolution, along with the other secrets and privi- 
 leges of the propertied classes. The labor inspector 
 18
 
 is to discover all the deviations from and violations 
 of the rules and regulations, whether with regard 
 . to the rights of the workers or with regard to tech- 
 nical and sanitary protection of labor. All inspection 
 takes place in conjunction with the representative 
 of the local factory or works' Committee or other 
 analogous committees. If, during the inspection 
 a careless or spiteful attitude on the part of an 
 owner or administration of the enterprise in question, 
 is observed towards the interests of the life, health 
 and protection of labor of workers and employees, 
 the Labor Inspector takes the guilty party before 
 the court or imposes a fine upon the same through 
 the local Labor Department. 
 
 According to the decree, the Labor Inspector 
 should not only carefully supervise the enforcement 
 of existing laws, but he is also given the right to take 
 all necessary measures for the removal of any cir- 
 cumstance which may be a menace to the life and 
 health of the workers, even though such measures be 
 not provided for by the law. In special cases when 
 serious defects are discovered, the Inspector of 
 labor has wide powers, including that of stopping 
 machines or engines or looms, or even of closing 
 down certain workshops or whole enterprises. 
 Generally speaking, the Labor Inspector is the 
 executive factor in our legislation, adapting all 
 our regulations and decrees to the actual conditions 
 and local peculiarities of a given district. With 
 the consent and official sanction of the local trade 
 union organizations, the inspectors may permit, In 
 the event of extreme necessity, deviations from the 
 existing standard, and establish the order in which 
 one or another measure cannot be realized in its 
 entirety, is to be enforced. 
 
 The Labor Inspectors do not confine their activity 
 to visiting enterprises alone. They are to set up 
 inquiry offices, where the workers are given all 
 necessary information with detailed instructions on 
 all questions of labor and social welfare; they are 
 to accept reports and complaints concerning viola- 
 tion of labor protection laws and to direct workers 
 
 19
 
 who seek information to the respective institutions. 
 The Labor Inspectors take an active part in 
 the activity of the organs of public economy, public 
 health, food supply, public education, social welfare 
 the housing question, and so forth; they raise 
 here all questions in any way connected with labor 
 protection, the health of the workers, and the im- 
 provement of their general conditions of life, and 
 directly participate in bringing about all the measures 
 of these organs. Furthermore, the Labor Inspectors 
 attract to the work of labor protection all the local 
 labor organizations, by reading papers on their a'^ti- 
 vities, at the trade union sessions, at the general 
 meetings of individual enterprises, among the women 
 workers, among the working youth, as well as at 
 specially convened general labor conferences. In ad- 
 dition to this, the Labor In'Spectors periodically de- 
 liver lectures and reports, and supply the local press 
 with articles on the protection of labor. 
 
 20
 
 Vn. The so-called Interlocal Inspection of Labor. 
 
 In every country of the world there are a number 
 of individual groups of the proletariat who are not 
 subject to labor protection laws. In reality in such 
 countries the law includes only the industrial pro- 
 letariat of factories and works which is best orga- 
 nized, most class conscious, and therefore most 
 dangerous to the bourgeoisie. At the same time 
 there is everywhere a large mass of disjointed, un- 
 organized, and backward workers working under 
 bad conditions, with whom State protection of labor 
 in capitahst society has no concern. 
 
 In Soviet Russia such a state of things is of course 
 inadmissible. There are no pariahs in our midst; 
 we are all one closely connected single labor fa- 
 mily. General inspection of labor, usually con- 
 sisting of the skilled workers of large industrial en- 
 terprises, cannot embrace all the small home In- 
 dustries, and disjointed enterprises, as well as those 
 forms of labor, the conditions of which are dis- 
 tinguished by certain peculiarities. 
 
 For this purpose in Russia there has been estab- 
 lished a so-called Interlocal Inspection. These In- 
 spectors are part of the general system of State 
 Inspection of Labor, but at the same time serve 
 the needs only of workers of individual branches 
 of industry, and are elected directly by the corres- 
 ponding trade unions. In this manner the follow- 
 ing special non-district inspections have been or- 
 ganized: of the railway and water transport work- 
 ers, builders, employees of the post and telegraph, 
 radio and telephone services, agricultural work- 
 ers, shop assistants, and also the workers engaged in 
 supplying food in the capitals. For separate districts 
 where the peasant home industry is greatly develop- 
 ed, and also in large towns, where there is a large 
 21
 
 number of various small concerna, such as work- 
 shops, hotels, offices, cafes, restaurants, baths, barber 
 shops, hospitals, drugstores, etc., there are special 
 "small-industrial" inspectors. 
 
 22
 
 VIII. Staff for Inspection of Labor. 
 
 The staff for Labor Inspection acquires particular 
 importance in view of the difficult conditions of the 
 period of transition to socialism, and of the particu- 
 larly acute economic disorganization and civil war; 
 the immediate and complete realization of all the 
 demands of the working class in the field of labor 
 protection is absolutely impossible, and the most 
 complex and responsible task of adaptation to life 
 of the general demands of legislation, and the real- 
 ization of all that which can be realized, is demanded 
 even at the cost of the greatest difficulties. The 
 institution of labor inspection is very young. It 
 has not even had two full years of existence. The 
 political situation was such that the trade unions 
 had to give their best men to the war to protect 
 the revolution, and next, to organization of industry, 
 establishment of transportation, food supply, orga- 
 nization of industry, organization of wage tariff acti- 
 vity, etc. Yet, in spite of the acute shortage of respon- 
 sible men, the working class proved itself capable of 
 providing a goodly number of businesslike and in- 
 telligent men for this field as well. And, what is 
 most important of all, labor inspection almost en- 
 tirely rests upon the proletariat itself, which makes 
 us fully confident of the stability and power of this 
 young institution. 
 
 According to statistics for the month of April, 1920. 
 there were elected altogether 405 Labor Inspectors; 
 of these, there were 319 district and 86 other inspec- 
 tors. The latter are divided as to their unions as 
 follows: Railway Transport — 52, Water Transport — 
 14, Builders — 4, Communications — 10, Interlocal in- 
 spection of agricultural workers and shop assist- 
 ants has only just begun to be organized, and em- 
 ploys not more than 6 men at the present time. 
 Qi the Labor Inspectors, 375 are men and 30 women. 
 23
 
 We thus see that in labor inspection a considerable 
 number of women are represented, and it might be 
 mentioned that both men and women can be equal- 
 ly true Proletarian Labor Inspectors and that an in- 
 dividual woman worker can freely become a general 
 Labor Inspectress. The following is the distribution 
 of Labor Inspectors according to trade: 
 
 Workers 232 
 
 Foremen and technicians 75 
 
 General clerks 60 
 
 Medical assistants 5 
 
 Teachers 6 
 
 Druggists 2 
 
 Students 6 
 
 Doctors 3 
 
 Lawyers 1 
 
 Engineers 2 
 
 Unknown 13 
 
 Altogether, including foremen there were 307 
 workers, making 75 per cent, 60 employees making 
 15 per cent, and 25 intellectuals making 6 ^er cent. 
 The class composition of the Labor Inspection is 
 obvious. 
 
 As to previous education, they are distributed as 
 follows: 
 
 Higher Education 16 
 
 Secondary Education 38 
 
 Secondary Technical and Craft 49 
 
 Elementary Education 272 
 
 Domestic Science Education 13 
 
 Not known ..... ... 17 
 
 The latter category really overlaps with elenient- 
 ary and domestic science education, in view of that 
 fact that it consists mainly of workers. 
 
 24
 
 Ages: Local Interlocal Total 
 
 Up to 20 years 1 — 1 
 
 20^25 " 32 11 ^43 
 
 25 — 30 " 70 18 88 
 
 30 — 35 " 81 26 107 
 
 35 — 40 " 53 14 67 
 
 40 — 45 " 36 15 51 
 
 45 — 50 " 20 — 20 
 
 above 50 " 8 — 8 
 
 unknown 18 2 20 
 
 The above table shows the greatest number of 
 Inspectors is of the most mature age and of ma- 
 ximum fitness, — from 2 5 to 35. 
 
 Party composition: 
 
 Communists 1831 
 
 o^ ^-u^ or [268 = 66% 
 
 Sympathizers 85 I '"^ 
 
 Mensheviks 15 
 
 Left Soc-Revolutionaries 6 
 
 Anarchists 2 
 
 Zionist Socialists 1 
 
 Bund 1 
 
 Non-Party 93 
 
 Unknown 18 
 
 I assume that the data given above is quite suffi- 
 cient to enable us to say with confidence that Pro- 
 tection of Labor in Soviet Russia is in reliable hands. 
 
 25
 
 IX. Special inspections. 
 
 The Labor Inspectors who, as we have seen, a.t& 
 In the majority of cases class conscious workers of 
 a domestic education are incapable of realizing fully 
 all the tasks in the sphere of Labor Protection. 
 Very often substantial special knowledge is required. 
 For this reason, to assist Labor Inspection, the 
 Soviet Government has secured the assistance of 
 the medical and technical services. In August 1918 
 a technical inspection of engineers was instituted. 
 In March 1919 Sanitary Inspection was introduced, 
 all the inspectors for which were medical men. It 
 has not been possible yet to put these two important 
 institutions firmly on their feet, owing to the fact 
 that at the present time the country is passing 
 through a sharp crisis of lack of specialists. There 
 are hardly enough engineers to go round for the 
 work of reestablishing industry and transport, whilst 
 the epidemics make felt the sharp need of doctors. 
 In which Russia was at all times poor. At the pre- 
 sent moment there are altogether 125 technical in- 
 spectors and 50 medical inspectors. According to 
 the general principles of our policy, specialists, doc- 
 tors and engineers are more of a consultative, auxi- 
 liary importance, assisting by their knowledge and 
 special experience the Labor Inspector, who guides 
 all their work, bearing the full responsibility for 
 the condition of labor protection in his district. 
 
 The technical and medical inspectors make a sy- 
 stematic supervision of enterprises for the purpose 
 of removing any defect or infringement of laws In 
 the spheres of technical safety, sanitation and In- 
 dustrial hygiene. In addition to this they make 
 26
 
 an extensive study of all harmful trades, trade di- 
 seases and accidents and investigate methods of 
 combatting these. All their work, similar to Labor 
 Inspection, is carried on in the closest contact with 
 the trade unions under the latter's direct control. 
 
 87
 
 Conclusions. 
 
 It is quite obvious tliat although our Labor Ins- 
 pection is composed, chiefly of the working class, this 
 class was incapable of realizing all the aspects of its 
 activity. A Labor Inspector makes only periodical 
 visits to an enterprise, gives orders and directions 
 but is incapable of establishing a daily control for 
 their actual execution. In addition to this. Labor 
 Protection gives actual results only when it is car- 
 ried out by the whole working mass during 
 its usual labor processes. For its maximum suc- 
 cess the constant utilization is necessary of that 
 knowledge of the peculiarities of every branch of 
 individual piece of work, which is possessed by the 
 workers engaged at the lathes who feel the necessity 
 of carrying out the protection of Labor. Furthermore, 
 it is necessary to attract to the creative active work 
 of labor protection those who most need this pro- 
 tection, the weakest elements of the working class — 
 the women and the children. In order to achieve 
 these tasks there are being established in Soviet 
 Russia, side by side with Labor Inspection, special 
 organs assisting and collaborating with the Inspec- 
 tion in its complex and responsible work. At every 
 trade union from top to bottom, from the central 
 committee to the lowest uyezd branch, special de- 
 partments of labor protection have been establish- 
 ed. At every factory and works, at every enterprise 
 and institution numbering above 15 men, a com- 
 mission of labor protection has been formed. 
 
 These organs vitalize the activity of the Labor 
 Inspection by special knowledge of all the pecu- 
 liarities and the demands of the industry in ques- 
 tion. They also see to it that all the instructions 
 and directions are not dead letters but are actually 
 carried out in due time and without undue devi- 
 ations. In the absence of the Inspector they carry 
 28
 
 on the constant control of the supervision of leglsla- 
 tion on Labor Protection, and of the sanltary-hy- 
 grienlc state of enterprises, housing, schools, hospi- 
 tals baths and so forth. Special attention is to be 
 paid to attracting into active work in Labor pro- 
 tection the working youth, which in the person of 
 Its Communist League, represents a leading ele- 
 ment, affording a great assistance to all the organs 
 of the Soviet Government by presenting an example 
 of energy and Arm revolutionary faith in the 
 righteousness of the workers' cause. In connection 
 ^yith all organs of the League there are economic 
 legal departments which under the guidance of the 
 Labor Inspectors carry on the Labor protection of 
 minors. Moreover, in February of the year we laid 
 the foundation of a special institution of assistant 
 inspectors of labor from the midst of the League 
 of Labor Youth. The best representatives of the 
 proletarian youth, elected to these posts by the 
 League in agreement with the Council of Trade 
 Unions, are supported by the State and, thanks to 
 this, are able to devote themselves fully to the 
 work of Labor Protection. Whilst paying most at- 
 tention to the protection of child labor, they at the 
 same time assist the inspector in all the other aspects 
 of its activity, thanks to which they continually gain 
 experience as fully intelligent and efficient workers 
 in labor protection. 
 
 Finally, every measure Is being taken to draw 
 women workers to the work of labor protection 
 The general meetings of the representatives of 
 women workers of every district elect special dele- 
 gates who constantly participate in the activity of 
 the local sub-department of Labor Protection, visit 
 the enterprises under the guidance of the Labor 
 Inspectors, attend special lectures, and take part 
 In discussions on labor protection which are arran- 
 ged by the Labor Inspection, and also closely par- 
 ticipate In the realization of Labor Protection for 
 women and children. 
 
 Thus, thanks to persistent and detailed daily work, 
 both of an organizing, agitational, cultural and edu-
 
 cational character, we make sure that protection 
 of labor in Soviet Russia doea actually embrace 11- 
 limitably wide circles of working masses, who may 
 be said fully to have become the "self-protectors" 
 of the proletariat against all abnormal, difficult and 
 harmful conditions with which the capitalistically 
 organized public labor is connected, and which in- 
 evitably lead to a physical and mental degeneration 
 of the working masses. We have not by far suc- 
 ceeded in fully realizing all the demands of labor 
 protection. This is in the first place to be explained 
 by the fact that, generally speaking, social measures 
 can under no conditions be fully realized on a large 
 scale within one or two years. In addition to the 
 conditions prevailing in all countries, Russia was 
 laboring under an uninterrupted three years' civil 
 war and principally under a brutal and criminal 
 blockade of the aggressive Entente, which prevent- 
 ed among other things the full realization of pro- 
 tection of labor. The armed counter-revolution 
 supported by Anglo-French bayonets, bullets, and 
 money, and at times even with human "cannon- 
 fodder", compelled the Russian workers and pea- 
 sants to strain all their forces for the defence of 
 the Soviet system. At the same time the Western 
 European capitalists, having economically isolated 
 Russia from the whole world, contributed towards 
 the extreme economic disorganization, tortured by 
 hunger and cold the children of the proletariat, and 
 it is clear enough that under such conditions not all 
 the aspects of labor protection could be realized. 
 
 However, Soviet Russia is slowly but surely ad- 
 vancing along the road of extending and deepen- 
 ing real social Protection of Labor. However diffi- 
 cult the general position of the country is at the 
 present time, the Russian workers nevertheless lay 
 the cornerstone of the edifice of Labor Protection, 
 whose problem it is to serve as the temple of 
 healthy, beautiful and joyous labor. 
 
 30
 
 Anniversary Issue 
 
 of 
 
 "Soviet Russia'' 
 
 On November 6, 1920, the fourth anniversary 
 of the founding of the Soviet Republic, "Soviet 
 Russia", will appear as a special forty-page anni- 
 versary issue, with articles reviewing the past 
 year's accomplishments of the Soviet Government, 
 as well as illustrations and portraits of great 
 Soviet statesmen. 
 
 Those who remember our Anniversary Issue of 
 November 1, 1919, in commemoration of the Third 
 Anniversary of the Birth of the New Era, will be 
 eager to read its successor. 
 
 Price, Ten Cents 
 At All Neiustands
 
 Soviet Russian 
 Statistics 
 
 The September issues of Soviet Russia will 
 contain the first installments of a series of im- 
 portant statistical articles from official sources. 
 The first article of this series will appear in the 
 issue of 
 
 September 4, 1920 
 
 and will be entitled : 
 
 "The Organization of the Labor 
 Market in Soviet Russia" 
 
 Later articles in the same series will be on the 
 following subjects. 
 
 "The Membership of the CoUcg'mms" (the Col- 
 legiums are the managing staffs of Soviet In- 
 stitutions and Enterprises). 
 
 "The Collectivisation of Agriculture." 
 
 "The Membership of the Petrograd Soviet." 
 
 There will be altogether not less than six ar- 
 ticles of statistical nature, and one will be pub- 
 lished every week until the series is complete. 
 
 Soviet Russia 
 
 no West 40th Street New York, N. Y.
 
 BOUND VOLUMES OF 
 '^SOVIET RUSSIA" 
 
 A few copies of our first two volumes may 
 still be had by those who order them in time. 
 We are obliged to ask six dollars for Volume 
 I, in order that only those may order it who 
 really need it. 
 
 Soviet Russia, Vol I. June-December, 1919. 
 640 pages (30 issues in all). Great quan- 
 tities of original and reprinted matter, in- 
 cluding many official documents. Price 
 Six Dollars. 
 Soviet Russia, Vol II. January-June, 1920. 
 646 pages of' text (26 issues), and four 
 pages of half-tone prints on calendared 
 paper. Important Official Communications 
 of the Soviet Government. Price Five 
 Dollars. 
 And read the current volume too. See an- 
 nouncement on back of cover. 
 
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