How did workers fare under the plans? L/O – To evaluate whether workers benefitted or suffered under the Five-Year Plans

Did workers support the plans? Urban working class and young people in general were enthusiastic at the beginning. There was a sense of ‘cultural revolution’ – things were changing and a better society was being created. Thousands of young people volunteered to go and work on distant projects, often labouring in tough conditions. Many were prepared to make sacrifices to build a new world which would probably only benefit their children.

Did workers support the plans? Workers also believe they would be better off materially. Real wages had risen only slowly under the NEP and unemployment had been high in the late 1920s. There is evidence to suggest that shop-floor workers supported the party and its industrialisation drive. They approved of the attack on bourgeois specialists – people were tired of ‘old’ managers still giving orders whilst they slaved away.

Did workers support the plans? The party wanted to create a proletarian intelligentsia with highly developed technical skills (red specialists) who would fill the roles of old specialists and would be more loyal. By the late 1920s, many industrial workers had advanced to these positions – there were great strides in technical education. This group of people did well during industrialisation and their standard of living was higher than the mass of workers.

Did workers support the plans? Workers who stayed in jobs and committed themselves to labour discipline could do well in the 1930s. Training courses meant many workers could improve their qualifications, position, pay and prospects. Those who exceeded targets were rewarded with higher pay, better working conditions and, with luck, better housing. They were often celebrated in newspapers.

Women in the labour force Women were an important source of new labour. 10 million entered the workforce during industrialisation. They especially dominated teaching and medicine. Less educated women, mainly ex-peasant women, became labourers or factory workers. Women were generally paid less and found it more difficult to gain promotion than men. However women were working in jobs that they had not done before.

Women in the labour force A study of women in Leningrad in 1935 (Sarah Davis, Popular Opinion in Stalin’s Russia: Terror, Propaganda and Dissent ), showed that women workers made up 44% of workforce but were less well paid, less literate, and less involved in political and technical education than males. Their most important issues were children’s needs, queues and fluctuating prices. Of 328 factory directors, only 20 were women and 17 of these were in textiles and sewing factories. Only 4 women head doctors.

‘Quicksand Society’ The First Five-Year Plan required an enormous expansion of the labour force. The majority of new workers were ex-peasants, forced off the land by collectivisation. They mostly lacked discipline, time-keeping and punctuality. Many found it difficult to adapt to monotonous factory work and were resentful about being forced to work in industry anyway. This led to a high rate of absenteeism and high turnover of labour. The average coal worker in 1930 had 3 jobs per year.

‘Quicksand Society’ High turnover also affected skilled and semi- skilled workers who’s skills were at a premium. Managers, desperate to fulfil targets were anxious to attract them. Many managers competed for skilled workers by offering higher wages and extra food rations. They were able to move easily between jobs which had a destabilising effect of high labour turnover. One Communist leader talked of Russia being liked a huge ‘nomadic gypsy camp’.

Quicksand Society The skills shortage was one of the biggest problems planners faced. In 1931, it was estimated that less than 7% of the workforce were skilled. Untrained, clumsy workers were doing an astonishing amount of damage to expensive imported machinery and were turning out poor-quality goods. There were stories of whole production runs being ruined by ill-educated ex-peasants.