The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 29, 1925, Page 11

Union Delegation — Fees inj the ation ?, Nineteen Miners’ Fe« ars’ Federa- 1921, Vice- on several dent, Inter- se, Member ing (Yorks). wblic bodies parliament- on congress, tell, 1923-24, Tember, cen- welfare and... ¥ examining al secretary 39, BF'ounder 1) @iginated nda General in 1887, 2 movement reral parlia- xd for North al secretary ‘ansport and Now secret- national De- tted Union. ongress gen- Member of ee, trades xclated with ice 1884, In- d leaders of as William d other pio- with prince il his return neer of shop ander of Shop tial of this etirement as twelve years Thru Courtesy of the International Pub- lishers Co. from the cylinders. In the engineer’s office was an exceedingly good half-sec- tion of the locomotive now in use for the general passenger service in Russia, from which the Delegation was able to gather that the Walchaert gear is generally in operation on the rail- ways of Russia, together with the piston valve principle. We learned that owing to the shortage of copper, whilst the tube face-plate was of copper, the walls and roof of the firebox were of iron, as were also the boiler tubes. Super-heating is the gen- eral practice on the Schmitt principle. Hiab ghg The Delegation also learned that the Swedish engines which we had seen at Sebej did not fur or cork the tubes, as we-had been informed, but that owing to the grate construction being different from the general Russian principle, the clinker Set on the bars of the Swedish engines, and consequently de- tracted from the steaming qualities. » In passing around the shed and repairing section of the depot, the Delegation found that the engines were not cleaned as is the usual practice in England, but that tubes were run with a rod, but on-coal burning engines fire-box, ash-pan and smoke- box. were cleaned in a similar manner to our own, Many of the’ engines, however, were oil burners, carrying a round tank of Oil: on the tender, which, owing to the intense frost of the Russian winters, was steam-heated to keep the oil in a usable fluid state. The foot-plate cabs of all these engines were especially built for protection to the men, being quite in the form of a small cabin entirely excluding all draft, consequent upon the running of the train. The Westinghouse brake appeared to be in general use, with quite up-to-date lubricators and injectors. The axle boxes had quite good oil wells with the usual wor- sted trimming and worsted pads in the well of the box beneath the axle. Generally speaking, fitting and repairs appeared to be much on the same principle as in our own country. With regard to the foot-plate men the engine driver is made by commencing an apprenticeship to the fitting, followed by a period of riding as third man, and attending to oilitig, etc., until practical driving were acquired. They were also, if necessary, given a course of instruction in firing, but firemen as such were not promoted to the position of engine driver but remained fire- men throughout. Drivers had to pass both technical and eye- sight examinations, the latter being repeated every year. At this depot, there were installed baths for the men with attached dressing rooms so that working clothes could be donned at the shed, and put off after the day’s work, when, fol- lowing the bath and change of clothing, the men could go home quite clean and decently dressed. There was also a restaurant with very fine kitchen arrangements and ample floor space for t. Elected to seating some 200 diners at the same time. In addition to this a ion congress, 38s each year: tember, 1925. P. A pioneer mand held prior to ap- ‘etary of As- 1otive Engin- Elected or- union, 1910. ition boards. of the union, ‘labor party 21. Elected ongress gen- 2m of la- sland. Three _ row, elected ated with la- ida for many member of Association eretary and ssistant gen- department, wetary, 1917, ineering and deration for ‘ly appointed cupying this 28 union con- 21, re-elected term ending ‘man of dele- “hing Trades social-de- ars. Mem- uwitil for six tary, subse- weil, trades co-operative store was attached to the depot, where all neces- sities of food and clothing could be purchased on production of the union card at little above cost price, and members were even allowed a credit card which permitted them to pay for the most expensive articles by instalments over a fixed period of time. There were also attached to the depot dwelling houses for the men, such as we had seen at factories and other works. The working hours were eight per day, and, generally speuking, the Delegation was given to understand that the conditions of the men employed were a great improvement on the old conditions in Russia. Nor was the social side forgotten, as a club, or in- stitute, was also attached with reading rooms, library, lectures, and other educational facilities in addition to facilities for social intercourse, ° . Py ape The First State Boot Factory Established in Russia This factory, prior to the war, was utilized as a munition factory fqr the purpose of producing shells. Since the Revolu- tion, it has been turned into a well-equipped modern boot fac- tory. The process of transfer commenced in 1921, but the factory was formally opened and named the Paris Commune Boot Factory on the 12th of March, 1922, the day upon which the Commune is celebrated all over the world. ‘The factory started with 87 workers. The total number now employed is 632, excluding the administrative staff, num- bering 56. The output is 1,400 pairs of boots per day. Passing from the manager’s office to one of the dcpart- ments, the Delegation noticed a display of colored posters on the walls and were particularly interested in one dealing with the care and training of children, including a very amusing section showing a demonstration of babies demanding the right to be born of healthy parents. One hundred and eighty women are employed in this fac- tory and the Delegation was informed that men were excluded from their particular kind of work unless there were no women capable of doing the work unemployed. Any vacancies, subject to this provision, could be filled by a male operative. Special provision is made for the medical care and atten- ; tion of the employes and in the first-aid department, the Delega- tion was introduced to the fully qualified doctor in charge, as- sisted by a fully qualified nurse and an experienced assistant. A factory dentist is also employed to care for the teeth of the workers. The Delegation was permitted to see the records of ac- cidents in this factory and our inspection showed that the total number of accidents during 1923, and up to the 1st October, 1924, was 83. None of these were very serious and the majority of minor importance. : : On the walls of the manager’s office, copies of the factory laws and labor laws which had been accepted and signed by the Trade Union representatives for the employes in this factory Copyright In the United States by the International Publishers Co, All Rights Reserved. Copyright by the Trades Union Congress General Council in Great Britain. were noticed. The manager in charge of the factory is ap- pointed with the consent of the union. The stockrooms and stores rooms for materials were in perfect order, and the finished articles were of a very high order. The leather used in this factory, in addition to Russian supplies, is imported to the extent of 40 per cent from America, Germany and France, Some of this material is very valuable and great care has to be exercised in cutting up the skins that’ waste should be reduced to the minimum. In order’to discourage waste, calculations are made as to what the skins should pro- duce, and a bonus is paid to the worker if there is any increase in the number of leather sections taken from each skin. Machinery utilized in this factory is mainly imported from America, some of it comes from Germany and the remainder is supplied by Russian engineering establishments. F The Delegation was very much impressed by the utility an finish of the goods being produced in this factory. As far as could be seen, nothing but leather was being used for the soles and there was no evidence of shoddy work. Making comments on this, the Delegation was informed that an effort was being made to defeat private traders by producing goods of & better design and a much more durable quality. ries reppin» .... Our inquiry into wages elicted the following information. “The wages per employe during the year 1923, to October 1924, per quarter were as follows:— Wages per month. Roables. Copecks. 78 10 79 24 52 52 91 81 The average wage per worker as shown for the July quar- ter was low on account of the fact that this quarter represents the holiday period. Holiday wages are, however, paid, there be- ing no reduction, but these payments do not appear in the books of the factory. XVI Rubber Works The Delegation visited the Leningrad State Rubber Works,’ where motor tires, goloshes, toys, and surgical appliances were being carried out and several new machines were being laid down, and it was observed that these were from Manches- ter and that more were to be installed. At present 8,000 work- ers are employed, the pre-war number being 13,000. _The factory was well organized, though the air space was ‘rather less*than‘that ob i intosh and Dunlop, but this will speedily be changed, as some very extensive new building are being constructed. Connected with this undertaking is a set of very fine din- ing rooms. Electrica] equipment is used in the cooking of food and even in the cleaning of utensils. The meal times at the works are practically arranged to suit the accommodation at the dining buildings. Thus, the first meal is timed for 11:30 4. m., and two others intervening the last commencing at 1:30 p.m. The meal consists of a fair sized piece of meat and soup, with a portion of sweet pudding and a supply of bread, black or white, or both. The meal is served up ready, but the soup is placed on the table in a number of fair sized basins, and each worker serves himself with a second helping should he need to. ‘ This meal works out at about 7d. comparable with anything obtainable for 1s. in this country: The Delegation partook of a meal and served themselves site from their own selected positions. 2 The institution is managed by workers from, and the ini- tial costs borne by the rubber undertaking. . Apart from the dining rooms there is a cafe and bar, and both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages can be obtained. There are reading rooms, a club room, and library, a wireless in- stallation, together with a music room and a very fine “Red Corner.” All these are at the disposal of the meanest worker em-~- ployed at the Rubber Works in Leningrad. XVII Visit to a State Tobacco Factory in Moscow. Each department was taken in turn, cigaret making ap- parently. being the main occupation. The Delegation saw the paper cigaret cases being made and subsequently filled with the tobacco by machinery, and afterwards went into the tobac- co-cutting department and were shown some English ma- chines, which, though smaller than the Russian, are considered to be the best, and do more work in the same time. In respect to machinery, it was stated that more was re- quired, particularly for filling cigarets in the packets, a good deal of which is being done by hand on account of the lack of machinery. There is no doubt English machinery is consid- ered the best, and if it-were possible, would be largely used. A good deal of the machinery gave evidence of Wear and, in the ordinary way, under other circumstances weald be replaced by new. In spite of these difficulties, it was stated the production of the factory was now 95 per cent as compared to pre-war. When it is remembered that the conditions of employment and hours of labor have been immensely improved since then, it certainly appears, under all the circumstances, a remarkable _ achievement, _ in ed (To be continued in next issue.) taining in such British ‘firtas asMacs 1) per head, and is quite wee