Labor
Studying labor and social relations within the context of a specific period helps us to understand the formative historical, social, and political influences that shaped industry and business. Factories, enterprises, and organizations that play an important role in modern urban life were often shaped by complex conditions, dependent on their environment and surroundings. Market forces, individual emotions, managerial strategies, organized labor, constitutional and legal issues, ethical challenges, etc. also affected labor relations. For historians who are interested in the history of labor and the lived experience of workers, this theme offers an engaging subject for thinking about the world of work. Our materials refer to histories of professions and practices of remuneration, while focusing on important issues of urban modernization, trade unions, and leisure. This theme considers questions about what, historically, people wanted to gain from work, how people outlined objectives within their workplace relationships, and how the wellbeing of the labor force was measured. We are interested in how employment was structured, who had a formative influence in shaping labor rights, and which forces defined the public values that greatly affected the type of societies people used to live in.
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Primary Sources
Oleksandr Liashko on the Financial Privileges and Material Situation of a Soviet Nomenklatura Officer in the 1950s
Oleksandr Liashko (1916-2002) was a prominent politician and statesman of the Ukrainian SSR. He began his career as an engineer in 1945 and later served as the secretary of both the Kramatorsk City Committee and the Donetsk Oblast Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. He eventually rose to the position of second secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine and later became the head of the government of the Ukrainian SSR from 1972 to 1987. After a distinguished career and with a deep understanding of the system, Liashko began writing his memoirs upon retiring in 1987, which he published as a trilogy in 1997. Drawing from a variety...
Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine on the Cancellation of Financial Privileges, 1957
On 12 February 1957, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine issued a resolution canceling the temporary financial allowances that had been in place since 1948. At first glance, this measure seemed aimed at addressing social inequities and equalizing compensation among various categories of party officials. The resolution’s title (“On the Cancellation of the Payment...”), its rationale (“excessive gap”), and its directive (“to completely cancel”) suggest a democratic gesture, in line with the spirit of the Khrushchev era, which sought to improve social standards. However, the actual details of the resolution, including the new salary levels for the privileged nomenklatura listed in two appendices, undermine the impression that this was a...
Resolution of the Government of the Ukrainian SSR on New Financial Privileges, 1956
After Stalin's death, the “collective leadership” of his associates, who shared power, sought to prevent the concentration of authority in a single individual. One outcome of this was the end of “hybrid” resolutions for determining the compensation of the nomenklatura. Instead, the party and the government began introducing new measures separately but in parallel, with the party maintaining its dominant role. On March 16, 1956, the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers each adopted resolutions—identical in content—that altered the procedures for calculating temporary financial support. On April 13, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine adopted its own decision on financial privileges, and on April 20, it approved...
Resolution on the Reduction of Temporary Financial Allowance, 1952
On August 12, 1952, the Soviet government issued a resolution titled “On Temporary Financial Allowances,” which was subsequently adopted by the Ukrainian government and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine on August 25. Although the all-Union decree was only passed by the government without the Central Committee of the CPSU's direct involvement, this distinction was negligible as both bodies were led by J. Stalin. Unlike the earlier 1948 resolution, the title of this did not directly address the essence of the changes; instead, it subtly indicated a worsening of the financial conditions for the ruling elite. The resolution included a justification for the reduction of temporary allowances, citing “a serious...
Appeal from the Kharkiv Oblast Committee Apparatchiks to the Central Party Control Commission Regarding Financial Privileges, 1948
In January 1948, after the introduction of temporary allowances, a privileged subset of staff within central, regional, and oblast government centers emerged, leading to greater internal differentiation. Despite some secrecy surrounding the arrangement, information about the financial privileges leaked, causing frustration among other party members. Upon discovering the significant disparities in salaries, a group of apparatchiks from the Kharkiv Oblast Committee of the CP(b)U appealed to the Party Control Commission of the Central Committee of the CPSU, a body seen as a fair arbiter within the party. Interestingly, the appeal was directed to Moscow, bypassing Kyiv, where such a complaint should have been addressed according to the established hierarchy. This choice suggests that...
Resolution on the replacement of rations with financial compensation, 1948
On December 23, 1947, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) issued a directive to the heads of republican governments, Central Committees of Communist Parties, and regional executive and party bodies. This directive proposed changes to the existing system of providing benefits to officials. Instead of rationing, monetary compensation equivalent to 2-3 times their salary was to be given, and special food and industrial stores were to be opened to the general public. The directive was unusual, as it combined mandatory language—“it is necessary to cancel…”—with a softer, more suggestive tone: “We suggest you...” This phrasing symbolically implied a degree of freedom in decision-making. On January...
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Members of the cinema club in the village of Novooleksandrivka, Ukrainian SSR, during a film shoot, May 1981
In addition to film studios, which predominantly comprised adults, the network of amateur filmmaking also encompassed groups tailored for children and teenagers, typically organized within houses of culture or schools. Oversight of these groups was typically carried out by representatives from People’s Studios and local film clubs. The archival caption of this photograph reads as follows: “Members of the cinema club at the House of Culture in the village of Novoaleksandrovka, Belovodsk district, Voroshilovgrad oblast, during a film shoot. From left to right: students Naydysh A, Petrov P, the club’s leader Kolesnik V. I., student Burian V. — village Novoaleksandrovka, 15 May 1981, by Y. Khromushyn (outdoors against the backdrop of a river).”
Film amateurs of the steam locomotive and car repair plant, photograph dated of 1956
“The initiators of a film studio at the steam locomotive and truck repair plant (from the left to the right) Slutskyn S.S., Art Club Director of Tool and Inventory Shop, Skybalo G.L., Director of Radio Broadcasting Center, and Zirka A.V. are looking through the first shots of the new film about the plant, Lviv December 7th, 1956". This archival record accompanies this photograph in the Central State Audio/Visual and Electronic Archive (until the recent times called Central State G.S. Pshenychnyi Filming Archive) in Kyiv. Despite it is the official representation of film amateurs that was probably created for the purpose of media publications, careful analysis of the details makes it possible to discern...
Wall newspaper of Kostyantynivka’ bottling plant, 1967
This wall newspaper is part of a series of wall newspapers from the Kostiantynivka bottling plant, created in 1967. The series consisted of 13 excerpts dedicated to local participants in the fights against the White Guards after the First World War. Thirteen newspaper issues reveal the plant's history, explain its name "13 Executed Workers Plant", and call for the publication of photographs and memories related to the confrontation with the White Guards. The presented here example tells the story of the family of Bobylov Aleksandr Semenovych and Bobylova-Chumychkina Mariia Semenivna, who were participants in the revolutionary movement. In 1918-1920, Kostiantynivka underwent numerous power changes, seized first by the White Guards and then by...
A worker from the Lviv Confectionery Factory “Bilshovyk,” T.M. Etinger, at work, 1956
The photo is part of the collection of press photos from the State Archives of Lviv Region showing different economic areas: industry, agriculture, culture, and sports. The photo shows a worker of Lviv Confectionery Factory, T.M.Etinger. According to the accompanying inscription, she is “one of the best” workers, a labour veteran). She is captured at making a Kremlin’s Savior Tower. The nature of this photo and of the entire collection implies the genre of press photos that had to accompanied by a text (newspaper publication). The photo was meant to illustrate the message, to make it sound more convincing, to encourage and inspire the reading workers to accomplish more in their labour. In...
Members of the Communist Labor Brigade and the presentation of Komsomol tickets at the Mariupol Heavy Machinery Plant
The photo shows the moment of the ceremonial presentation of a Komsomol ticket to an employee of the Mariupol heavy engineering plant. In addition to the ticket, a party or Komsomol functionary hands an unknown woman a pennant, which may indicate that this new Komsomol member has already achived significant results in the performance of the party’s labor tasks. Most likely, she is a representative of the leaders of the plant, and it was important for the Soviet system that the leaders of the production were part of the Komsomol-party asset. If we follow the name of this source, then the young worker is part of the “communist labor brigade”, which was an...
ASUP Can Do More: A 1975 TV Story by Lviv Television
A 1975 news report made for Lviv television describes the use of the ASUP (Avtomatyzovana systema upravlinnya pidpryjemstvom - Automated Enterprise Management System) at the Lviv Electron plant, one of the largest TV manufacturers in the Soviet Union. Developed in cooperation with the Kyiv Institute of Cybernetics between 1964 and 1969, the system employed an electronic computer to perform calculations and record production data, marking the first implementation of its kind in the Soviet Union. The story emerged during a period of technological optimism in Soviet state policy, with the fields of cybernetics and computer engineering having developed over nearly two decades. By 1967, more than 500 institutions and tens of...
The Electronic Eyes of a Traffic Inspector: A 1971 TV Story by Lviv Television
A 1971 television story produced for Lviv Television news describes an experiment using television cameras to regulate traffic at one of the busiest intersections in the center of Lviv. The source does not provide information about the authors or the context of the device’s development. However, it is known that the Electron plant, one of the largest TV manufacturers in the city at the time, operated a special design bureau for television equipment. This suggests the presence of technological expertise and infrastructure capable of developing such devices using the relatively new technology of transmitting images via television signals. This technology was becoming increasingly popular in various fields, including traffic control. The...
Radio Communication: A 1959 TV Story by Lviv television
A 1959 TV story filmed for Lviv Television’s Lvivska Nedilia (Lviv Week) (№19) captures the early years of Lviv television and depicts the Soviet modernization of the city. Although the sound is lost, the visuals effectively narrate the story of public transport operations and how remote communication enabled quick responses to breakdowns, preventing disruptions in the public transport infrastructure. In the context of Lviv at the time, the introduction of the trolleybus was a significant symbol of Soviet modernization. Previously, the city only had a tram network. The new trolleybus routes connected the historic city center with the outskirts, where large enterprises and working-class neighborhoods were located. This report highlights...
“Screen of Pryazovia” (Pryazovskyi Ekran) № 1, 1969
This newsreel is a valuable source on the history of the development of the Mariupol industry. It was produced by the city club of film amateurs. Following the example of the Ukrkinochronika studio in the capital city which published the main newsreels in the republic, the authors of this piece created a short film report with 4 stories that tell about the deputies, the introduction of innovations in blast furnace steelmaking, about the winners of the socialist competition, and about the meeting of workers with a Soviet cosmonaut.
Collective of Communist Labor at Shoe Factory, 1960
Television news of the Lviv Television Studio followed the operators of Ukrkinochronika who chose shoe factory No. 3 as a model enterprise of the city’s light industry. The television camera shows to the audience Kateryna Lysak, an exemplary employee of the enterprise that was granted a status of a “communist labor enterprise”. At such enterprises, the example of the pioneers was to be followed by other workers, and a television clip told the people of Lviv about leaders of production and how the shoe factory was developing.
For the Family Hearth, a 1970 film
The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ivan Franko, written in 1892. In his story, the problem of sexual slavery (or “white slavery” in the terms of those times) and women’s engagement as its victims and enablers. The author’s choice of topic must have been influenced by the lawsuits against human traffickers that were actively taking place in Galicia at this time. One of the most high-profile cases was the Lviv trial in 1892 against 27 traffickers (men and women) accused of organizing sexual traffic abroad. The investigation confirmed 29 cases of selling girls from Galicia to brothels in Constantinople, Egypt, and India. The “white slavery” usually...
Roman Buchko on Soviet Film Amateurs: Excerpt from an Interview on November 1, 2012
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Song of the Communist Labor Brigades
"Song of Communist Labor Brigades" was written in 1956 by the composer Arkady Filipenko (1912-1983), who, in addition to academic music, wrote works for operettas and films. The verses to the song were written by another outstanding figure of Soviet culture of the Ukrainian SSR, Oleksa Novitsky (1914-1992), who was a military correspondent during the war, and later became a Shevchenko scholar. Both authors had the "right" biographies for writing the anthem of the communist labor brigades, which was performed at official events in the Ukrainian SSR, and was also published in large numbers for performance by professional and amateur groups. The song has a solemn mood and asserts that the communist labor...
The Soviet Union positioned itself as a society of social equality, where the elimination of human exploitation was said to have achieved harmony in class relations. The eradication of social contradictions between the “top” and “bottom” (in Soviet terminology, the “exploiters” and “exploited”) was widely promoted as an indisputable and irreversible achievement of the Soviet state. Yet, this created a paradox: while this ideal was publicly championed, the significant social gap between the people and the so-called “people's power” was a reality that remained unacknowledged. This module by Viktor Krupyna focuses on the financial privileges of the Ukrainian Soviet nomenklatura.
The Soviet government aimed to profoundly transform the styles and structures of people’s everyday lives, encompassing housing, leisure, and work. Particularly ambitious projects were conceived and executed during the 1920s and 1930s. Workers were at the forefront of Soviet social policy, with the Bolshevik Communist Party depicted in Soviet discourse as the avant-garde of the proletariat, primarily serving the interests of the working class. Did these ideas correspond to practice, and at what cost were they realized? This will be discussed in the module by historian Roman Liubavskyi.
The early vision of amateur filmmaking in the Soviet Union was characterized by the pragmatic idea of using the new media not only for entertainment but also to involve a wide range of citizens in the production of newsreels and to create a network of correspondents across the country to cover the construction of socialism. However, despite sporadic attempts, this idea was not immediately implemented on a large scale. The lack of technology and sufficient equipment, and later the political climate of the 1930s, hindered this. It was only after liberalization and Khrushchev's reforms that the idea reappeared on the agenda.
The end of the 19th century through the beginning of the 20th century is known as the period of mass migration from Europe to other continents, when more than 55 million people changed their place of residence. In particular, this process captured the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires, where a difficult economic situation, job shortages, and persecutions stirred various groups of the population to leave. Such groups included both Ukrainian and Polish peasants, and Jews from urban centers who were small-scale craftsmen or workers. Most often, they moved to the United States, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil, where labor was needed at factories or farms.
The founders of the Soviet Union believed that the basis for new forms of labor was to be an amateur initiative and talents, of which the people have an endless source, managed by “nationwide accounting and control”. The method of introducing new forms of industry management was the widest propaganda of labor achievements. Soviet ideologists habitually cited Lenin who believed that labor could change a human being under socialism and advised how to organize socialist competition. This module by historian Bohdan Shumylovych is devoted to the topic of labor in communist propaganda, using the example of the 1960s.
У 1950–1960-х роках на підприємствах Радянської України поширилися практики, скеровані на удосконалення праці. Двигуном цього процесу були так звані передовики – учасники руху трудящих СРСР за комуністичне ставлення до праці та за виховання людини комуністичного суспільства.
The course invites to look at the history of Soviet Ukraine from the perspective of its everyday practices. Using many visual sources from 1922 to 1991, students will explore daily routines, housing, clothing, transportation, leisure, and music consumption in urban and rural settings. Periods of peace, war, and crisis will receive equal attention so that one can see how global developments were experienced on a microlevel. Students will explore how maintaining everyday objects and personal habits was essential for building personal safety in different historical contexts. The everyday histories of Soviet Ukraine will also provide a deeper insight into the standard historical narratives about East-European societies, particularly their dialogue with the global society...
East-Central Europe played a vital role in the global history of mass migration and experienced an enormous variety of mobility processes in the long 19th and short 20th centuries. For instance, mass emigration from the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires and the Soviet Union, human trafficking, labor migration, forced migration during WWI and WWII, refugee crises and asylum, travel, and professional mobility. The voluminous scholarship on this chapter of migration history has lots of gaps and, notably, is almost absent from history curricula. This introductory course broadens our lens to examine the role of migration and mobility for the places where it occurred as well as the experiences of migrants, displaced persons, refugees, and...
This lecture course comparatively and transnationally investigates twentieth-century communism as a modern civilization with a global outreach. It looks at the global spread of communism as an ideology, an everyday experience, and a form of statehood in the Soviet Union, Europe, Asia (i.e.Mao’s China), and post-colonial Africa. With the exception of North America and Australia, communist regimes were established on all continents of the world. The course will examine this historical process from the October Revolution (1917) to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster (1986), which marked the demise of the communist state. The emphasis is not just on state-building processes or Cold War politics but primarily on the social, gender, cultural and economic policies that...