10 principles of work in a Soviet way

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

A whole generation of adults has grown up who have never worked in the USSR, and therefore they often take at face value various slanderous anti-Soviet tales, supported by modern propaganda. Therefore, I would like to tell you how, in principle, Soviet-style work differed from work in the modern Russian Federation.

I have lived all my life in Saratov and will compare provincial working conditions. The average salary in Soviet times was different, while it grew steadily over the years, so I will leave the specific figures for the size of Soviet salaries outside the brackets. The principles of work in the USSR, say, in 1950 and in 1985 were approximately the same, but they differ dramatically from modern conditions. So, point by point:

1. Work in the Soviet way has always been

In the USSR, not only was there no unemployment, in the USSR, in principle, there were always vacancies with average and above average earnings.

2. Work in the Soviet way was most often close to home

In cities, most jobs are in large industrial plants. And they usually built houses for their workers in the surrounding areas. Let's say my parents both went home for lunch at the same time. Although my mother had previously worked at an enterprise, where she had to go for a dozen stops, and then she got a job at a military plant with delivery by the enterprise's transport. There she dined in the dining room. The plant was nearby, the working day ended at 4:50 pm, buses left at 5:00 pm, and my mother was at home at 5:15 pm. We must also understand that the salaries for the same specialties were about the same, so there was simply no point in going to the other end of the city to work as a timekeeper or a welder if it was possible to get a job near the house.

3. Work in the Soviet style often went along with housing

Well, that is, if you had nowhere to live, say, you are a young specialist who wants to move from your parents, then you were almost automatically given a place in a hostel, young families were queued up for housing. The average number of years of waiting in such a queue was 6-8, but there were acutely scarce specialties where they could give an apartment right away. My childhood friend graduated with a diploma in motor road engineering and was given a three-room apartment in the city center when he got his first job. Well, such specialties were not fashionable then. His wife had already given birth to a couple of boys.

It is clear that there were some offices without a hostel. But this was rare, finding a job with a place to stay was not worth the effort.

4. Work in the Soviet way was paid in an amount that guaranteed you the solution of all basic life needs

On the average Soviet salary, it was possible to pay all utility bills 15-20 times. I received my first full salary while still a student, for the bare rate of a teacher with an incomplete higher education - 110 rubles. It was 55% of the then average. Just how much it cost me a trip to the south near Sochi with friends. For three rubles of my parents, I could make a communal apartment for 7 months in advance. A set of 1 kg of potatoes - 1 liter of milk - I could buy a loaf of bread for 200-250 days. Medicine - education was a free right of every Soviet citizen.

5. Work in the Soviet way was always with a very decent, as they say now, social package

Only the Soviet social package was twenty times larger than the best modern one. It's even funny to compare. Apartments, vouchers to pioneer camps, rest houses, sanatoriums, often their own medicine, baths, sports clubs, circles, help from the trade union committee. Sick leave, paid vacations, pensions - as a guarantee, and not as today - a rare success.

6. Soviet-style work, as a rule, had a bonus of inexpensive and very high-quality food in the canteenand delivery by the company's transport. The transport of the enterprise was also often allocated for the delivery of workers to summer cottages, rest homes, pioneer camps, picnics and mushroom picking, and funerals.

7. Work in the Soviet way often had a bonus in the internal trade of the enterprise

The goal is to prevent employees from wasting time running around shopping after work. As a rule, all the basic products could be bought there. Plus, the enterprise received its own funds for more scarce products. For example, parents every month brought from work two kilos of meat for each at the state price. This is 48 kg per year. Plus, every self-respecting enterprise brought vegetables for its workers in autumn and meat from neighboring collective farms with its own transport. My father worked as a driver. So all the time he drove watermelons, potatoes, cabbage, meat.

8. Work in the Soviet way meant guaranteed protection of the worker's rights by the state, party committee, trade union, Komsomol, women's organizations, doctors, internal labor protection service.

From the length of the working day and the size of the salary to the procedure for dismissal only with the consent of the trade union. Today any worker is a powerless and voiceless cattle alongside the Soviet worker. Plus, workwear is a must. Many citizens wore natural sheepskin coats in winter - this was also free overalls for some specialties. My father was supposed to, I myself wore one.

9. Work in the Soviet way meant participation in a nationwide development project

Therefore - mutual assistance, patronage, transfer of the secrets of mastery, social competition. Therefore - the awareness of the meaning of their own work for the whole society. Therefore - honor and awards, from banal awards and mentions in the media to the highest state awards.

10. The Soviet-style work was stable and easy to plan

You acquired a specialty knowing that it would be easy to find such a job. Many got a job at enterprises and worked there all their lives, with additional bonuses for work experience. Every year, your actual earnings grew steadily while maintaining retail prices. The company and the trade union committee helped you in all difficult life situations. At any job, several career options were open for you, along the production line, along the public, trade union, and party lines.

If we summarize all my points in general, it becomes clear that in the USSR, workers were treated like human beings. People were appreciated. Actually, for this, the revolution was made. Actually, therefore, all the problems were solved, and the country was getting richer. The country created conditions for you - you worked for the good of the country. "My native country is wide …", - the Soviet people sang. They really lived in their home country.