Living and working under 1st plan

Why can’t the living standards be judged a failure?

Improving living standards were never an objective of the plan

What were workers sustained by?

Rations which provided a diet poorer than that available under the NEP

What disappeared?

Consumer goods and queuing became a future of life in S’ society

What did S introduce?

A 7 day working week which meant which meant that Sunday which used to be a rest day became a working day

How did working conditions also deteriorate?

Peasants who had only recently moved to the towns had little experience of industrial work and many perished in the hastily constructed factories

What were workers allowed to do?

Work in unsafe conditions because their manager were more concerned about meeting gvmt production targets that they were about safety standards

What were some penalisations?

Labour discipline was harsh, lateness was criminalised, strikes were outlawed, workers who broke machinery were accused of being capitalist saboteurs and exiled to forced labour camps

Why was the pressure counterproductive?

Absenteeism and the low productivity increased during the Plan

Who were ‘white coal’?

Many of the workers who built soviet industries were prisoners who were forced to work, they had no rights and were allowed to starve/freeze to death