HOW WE WORKED IN THE SOVIET UNION

Introduction

In the Soviet Union all plants belonged to the state. The state fixed prices of goods produced by plants, and then goods were sold in state shops. Prices were fixed and were constant for a specific kind of production.

In addition to the invisible tax, the government collected tax from wages. If your income was less than one hundred rubles the tax was 8%, and if more than one hundred rubles the tax was 13%.

[During the last 20 years of the Soviet rule monthly incomes were: nurses, and cleaning women 80 rubles, doctors 100-200 rubles, engineers 100-250, Ph.D. engineers 200-400, workers of a trade-100 rubles; but they had cash and had many way to steal it (all meat with bones cost 2 rubles for kilogram, they could prepare meat without bones for some customers and they illegally paid a higher price, sellers could short weigh the products and etc.) and they lived very well on the Soviet standard, workers 100-200, leaders 400 rubles and more, and they had special shops, closed for other people, where every thing could be bought, and free government country house.

The prices in the shops were: vodka-3.15 for a half liter, meat 2 rubles for kilogram, bread 15-50 kopecks, oranges- 2 rubles for kilogram, apples-1.5 rubles for kilogram, women's winter high boots-70-170 rubles.

But we had a problem buying products in the shops. (Many foods was
a shortage, when they appeared in the shop, there was organized big line for them. Other case, in Leningrad's shops was boiled sausage, and was not hard sausage, the towns around Leningrad there was not also boiled sausage).

The price of a government apartment was 20-30 rubles per month, but the price of cooperative apartment was 40-50 per month, and it was necessary to pay the first 40% of the cost of an apartment, and then to pay a monthly loan.

So, we had a constant shortage of goods, but the people did not buy many goods. If goods didn't sell, only the state had a loss, but these plants didn't have a loss. There was also a monopoly of foreign trade, and there was not competition. The state had a large expenditure and inefficient production, but state fixed salaries and prices so that the budget would be balanced.

Workers were laid off very seldom. There were always openings. All plants were to have a big staff. (It was easy to get a job and, as result, there were many superiors with big salaries.)

Before September, each plant prepared its request for equipment and other items, which were necessary for production in the next year and sent it to their ministries in Moscow. Each ministry collected all requests and sent them to 'Gosplan' (State Planning Committee of the USSR) which planned the jobs of other plants in the Soviet Union. If a plant forgot or did not know what was necessary to include in the request for some supplies, it was very hard to receive them later. Each plant submitted a request in excess of its actual needs and therefore much remained in storage.

I think that the Government decided to reduce the connection of plants to the ministries in Moscow (in case of possible future war).

In Khrushchev's time the Government decided to reorganize the structure of industry. They organized 'sovnarchoz', the council of National Economy. The Soviet Union was divided into independent economic regions.

In Brezhnev's time 'sovnarchoz' fell apart and later the government ushered in an integration plants: scientific institutes and manufacturing plants were joined together under one organization.

My small plant was integrated into the amalgamation 'Leninez'. There were 20 thousand workers (scientific- manufacturing institute and two big plants). My wife worked in a scientific-manufacturing amalgamation named 'Electron'. It included a scientific institute and many plants, including a large plant in the Caucasus.

Many military representatives worked there. They controlled all stages of military production. Those were good places for the military, who bore arms in Leningrad.

At that time, Government propagandized for the creating of peacetime production under the military amalgamation. My amalgamation organized production of complicated electronic recorders named 'Leningrad'. Managers calculated net cost; government declared the final price. The plants received some percent of the price. That money the plant could use, as it wanted to (build houses, buy new equipment for the plant, etc.)

My wife's amalgamation organized production of fish. They had many tanks. In the first tank they bred baby fish. Then they transferred them to the next tank. In the last tank they had fish for sale.

In Gorbchev's time, those managers (leaders) were arrested. In the Soviet time, each new leader defamed previous leaders, except Lenin.
In Moscow, there were 30 ministries (each ministry had many 'glavk', divisions, and chief directorate) for ruling of all industry.

Certainly there were some variations of the working system but I think I described the general case. (At the end of the Soviet Union, the population was 260 million people.)

Recently I read in a Russian newspaper, "Lvov's big plant used to (Ukraine) produce iconoscopes for television plants in the former Soviet Union but now people buy Japanese televisions and Lvov's plant now produces vodka bottles instead of iconoscopes.

1. Jobs in the Institutes and the Plants
(Time 1960-1980's)

The time from 1960-1980's was a more liberal time for workers than during the time of 1940-1950, when there were severe laws for working people (See Appendix). I did not write about an earlier time, which also was not all honey.


1.1 Job in the Research Institute

When the institute completed plans the ministry gave the workers a bonus. The bonus was received once a quarter and was 30-60% of a month's income. The bonus was divided between the workers and management, but managers always had a bigger percentage. If a plan of a plant was under threat of non-fulfillment, the clever leader changed it and affirmed its completion to the ministry in Moscow (Adjustment of plan). Then the plant received the bonus.

I worked in a military institute. In our laboratory, in the beginning of the quarter, we prepared a plan for the laboratory. The laboratory took for itself socialistic pledge plan about fulfilling and exceeding the plan. At the end of the quarter we prepared a report in which we proved that the plan was fulfilled, and got a bonus.

Later our institute tried to activate the socialistic game. In our division (there were 7 laboratories); we competed between laboratories. Each element of the pledges was assigned a certain number of points. The laboratories, which received more points, received a higher percentage of bonuses. (They checked each other.) If somebody in the laboratory was late in coming for work at the plant or got into hot water at the sobering up station, and etc., that laboratory lost many points.


1.2 Job in the Plants
(For blue -collar workers)

Workers were paid a fixed price for each job performed They did not receive a fixed salary for the month. They were dependent on the boss (master), who gave them a job and signed the slip in order for them to be paid. The usual situation was that in the beginning of the month workers did not have enough work (there were not items, etc.) In the end of the month work was abundant. Workers often worked in the evening, Saturday, and Sunday because it was necessary to carry out the plan.

The leaders worked as time workers and received a bonus. The blue-collar workers did not receive a bonus. Each year the government decreased the appraisal for the price of each unit produced by 10% and the plan increased production also by 10%.

Appendix

During the time 1940-1950 there were strict laws for working people.

A. You couldn't change a job.

B. If you were late more than 20 minutes, the first time you would be punished with a reduced income by 25% for six months; the second time you could go to prison*.
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* b1. One woman told me a story about working during the blockade time in Leningrad. She lived in the suburb of Leningrad (Kavgolovo) and worked at the main post office. It was winter (1942) and public transportation did not operate. She had to walk to her job 5 kilometers across snow. Once she was late for her job more than 20 minutes. She was punished by reduction of her income by 25% for 6 months.

b2. My future father-in-law took a train to his job. The train broke down on the way. Since he was an athlete, he was able to run to his job. The guard at the entrance to the plant stopped him. He explained his case, but they began to act against him for tardiness. After some time many people also arrived late from that train. That saved my father-in-law.

b3. Another person told me, "I did not have a problem because I never was late."
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C. During the time before 1960 each worker had to subscribe to the government lottery to the extent of one month's income or more. That amount was withheld from income in 10 equal monthly installments. It was impossible to refuse to subscribe to that program. Leaders, 'partkom' (Party Committee), etc. called the workers individually to convince them. The leaders could reduce the bonuses, and etc. There was a Russian expression, "Workers subscribed to the lottery "voluntarily but by force".

P.S. The lottery issued a 20-year bond. In the first 10 years the percentage of income returned to the workers was small, but in the last 10 years it was much larger. After some time the size of the new lottery subscription began to approach the size of the money paid back for older government loans (workers). Then the government (Khrushchev's time) stopped that lottery for 20 years, for both new subscription from the workers and payments back to the workers for 20 years.

After 20 years (1980) they organized lottery for those bonds and exchanged them for a nominal cost. After 1990 all outstanding bonds could be taken to the 'sbercassa' (saving bank) and exchanged for rubles at a nominal charge
.
All the time clever people bought those bonds illegally at a price equal to 1/10 of their real price.

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