Stakhanov Movement in the Forest Industry Complex of the Soviet Union: Сomprehension of the Phenomenon

Abstract

In the Soviet forest industry during modernization in the 1930s, enterprises were built and advanced equipment and technologies were introduced, and at the same time heavy physical work of “free-bodied”, seasonal workers, rural residents, special residents, and prisoners was used on a wide scale. The weak level of development of certain components of the forest industry, the need to develop production facilities, and improving the organization of labor led to the introduction of various competitive forms of labor, including the Stakhanovite movement, which was born in 1935. The People’s Commissariat of the Forest Industry began to actively advocate for the use of Stakhanovism in their enterprises to implement annual plans and to mechanize production processes. Exceeding standards by workers did take place, but this was achieved mainly due to the long preparation at sites, the provision of necessary resources, the performance of certain types of work, and the increase of labor loads. The “best” workers managed to improve their social statuses, wages, and housing and living conditions and to receive awards. The potential of the Stakhanovite movement was limited by the weak level of its organization, and the employees’ sometimes negative attitude to this form of competition, as well as by problems of remuneration and distributing resources. Short-term labor “records” were followed by decline. As a result, there were no significant changes in worker productivity in the Soviet forest industry. In pulp and paper, plywood, and cardboard industries, labor productivity was connected primarily with the development of capacities of enterprises put into operation during the first and second five-year plans.