Socialist competition is the competition in labor productivity between shops, state enterprises, teams and even individual workers that existed in the Soviet Union. Among other things, educational institutions of the "Labor reserves" took part in the socialist competitions. This was supposed to be able to replace the competition that existed in the capitalist world. This practice existed in the Soviet Union, as well as in the countries that were part of the Eastern Bloc.
Process organization
Participation in socialist competition has always been voluntary. At the same time, they were carried out in almost all sectors of the national economy, wherever people served or worked. For example, in agriculture, industry, institutions, offices, hospitals, schools, the army.
At the same time, everywhere, with the exception of the Armed Forces, the committees of the Soviet trade unions were responsible for managing the socialist competition. Its important part has always been the so-called socialist obligations. When the main guideline was the production plan, labor collectives and individual employees were obliged to take on planned or even increased social obligations.
In most cases, the timing of summing up the results of each socialist competition in the USSR was timed to coincide with some important or memorable date. For example, the anniversary of the October Revolution, the birthday of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. The winners were awarded not only morally, but also financially. An excellent student of socialist competition was en titled to specific goods, money or benefits, so that it was characteristic of the existence of a socialist system. For example, these could be tickets to the Black Sea resort, the right to receive a car or housing out of turn, permission to travel abroad.
Among the moral rewards there were honorary badges, honorary diplomas. Portraits of the winners were hung on the Board of Honor without fail. Labor collectives that won the socialist competition were awarded the challenge banner.
History
The date of the appearance of socialist competitions is considered to be March 15, 1929, when the Pravda newspaper published an article en titled "Agreement on the socialist competition of pipe shop cuttersplant "Red Vyborzhets".
In particular, this text contained an appeal from aluminum trimmers Mokin, Putin, Ogloblin and Kruglov, in which they called for social competition to reduce costs and increase labor productivity of clean workers, specialists who were engaged in scraping, trimming red copper, developing tram arcs. The aluminum cutters themselves pledged to reduce their prices by ten percent, taking measures to increase labor productivity by ten percent. They urged the rest of the workers to accept the challenge and conclude an appropriate agreement.
This was the first treaty of its kind in the country's history. As a result, today it is believed that it was at Krasny Vyborzhets that the first socialist competitions originated. According to their results, the winners were awarded the title of shock workers of communist labor.
Mikhail Putin
It is believed that the inspirer of the competition was the foreman of the cutters, whose name was Mikhail Eliseevich Putin. This is a leader, a Soviet worker who was born in St. Petersburg in 1894.
His father worked as a railroad switchman and his mother worked as a laundress. Childhood was not easy, as ten children grew up in the family. Therefore, at the age of 9, Mikhail already had to go to work. He began with a service in a coffee shop on Nevsky Prospekt. After that, he changed many other speci alties - a watchman, a messenger in a shoe shop, a port loader, an assistant. The physical strength acquired through such work allowed him to earn extra money in the circus during the winter seasons with French wrestling. In his careerthere was even an episode when he took part in the classic fight against Ivan Poddubny, managing to hold out for a whole seven minutes.
When the Civil War began, he signed up for the Red Army. When he was demobilized in the early 1920s, he got a job at the Krasny Vyborzhets plant. At first he worked as a stoker-annealer in a pipe shop, then moved to a pipe mill. On the stump of aluminum since 1923. When industrialization began in the country, Putin became one of the first foremen at the plant.
First Five-Year Plan
After the transition of the USSR to the administrative-command management in society, the need for the development of moral incentives in production was acutely felt. This was one of the main problems of the First Five-Year Plan, which began in 1928. In January 1929, Pravda published Lenin's article en titled "How to organize a competition", which he wrote back in 1918.
Activists soon followed, many of which were initiated by party workers, as well as trade union organizations. In them, they called for saving raw materials, increasing production rates, and improving quality indicators. The correspondent office of the Leningrad "Pravda" was given the task of finding an enterprise that could significantly reduce the cost of its products, and on it a team that would agree to become the initiators of the socialist competition. And so the article of aluminum cutters appeared.
This was the first agreement between brigades on socialist competitions in the history of the Soviet Union. The first initiatives were supported in the pipeshop, and then at the rest of the plant. The obligations assumed by the brigade were fulfilled ahead of schedule. After that, Mikhail Eliseevich Putin became a well-known and prominent foreman. In 1931 he was awarded the Order of Lenin as the initiator of the first socialist competition.
Since then, he was regularly elected to the factory committee of trade unions, was a member of the presidium of the regional committee of the trade union of workers in the metallurgical industry, and a deputy.
In 1937 he was awarded the title of Hero of Labor. Soon after that, he began working in the leadership of the Soyuzspetsstroy construction department. During the Great Patriotic War, he managed a construction trust during the construction of defensive structures around Leningrad. When the war was over, he rebuilt the city, developed mass industrial and housing construction.
He died in 1969 at the age of 75. He was buried in the Northern Cemetery.
Counter plan
Putin's initiative was soon supported throughout the country. Calls for socialist competition were published in many newspapers, this form of increasing labor productivity began to spread widely. As one of the phenomena of the socialist economy, social competition actually existed until 1990.
At the same time, the concept of a counter plan appeared. This is a production plan that provided for the highest rates than was set by the planning organizations. In addition, it was assumed that it would be completed in a shorter time.
Counter plans were developedin the administrations of enterprises, their party organization claimed. They were considered part of social competition, an important form of effective use and search for production reserves by workers.
Excellence in socialist competition
From 1958 to 1965, another award was presented in the Soviet Union. It was the sign "Excellence in socialist competition." He was also included in the list of departmental awards that gave the right to receive the title of "Veteran of Labor".
The "Excellence in Socialist Competition" badge in the very center depicted a hammer and sickle on a blue background. There was an inscription of the same name on top, and ears of wheat on the sides.
Social competition was held at different stages, so that the award could be received at several levels - the USSR or one of the republics, for example the RSFSR.
Winners
It is worth noting that in the public mind the attitude towards socialist competitions was twofold. Many researchers and contemporaries note that the desire to win at any cost was strongly encouraged. As a result, frank grabbers became the best, for which, as expected, they were not loved by the people.
Modern youth may not know what the participants in the socialist competition were called. The victors were awarded a single all-Union sign, it was a departmental and trade union award, which was valid from 1973 to 1980. The sign "Winner of the socialist competition" was established by a joint decree of the Soviet government andcommunist party. At the same time, relevant provisions were developed and approved by the Presidium of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions. The provisions of the "Winner of Socialist Competition" badge were revised and approved every year in the future.
It is worth noting that there were several types of awards. The badge "Winner of socialist competition" was awarded to the best collective farmers, workers, foremen, employees, employees of design, research and other organizations who achieved the highest possible labor indicators, and also distinguished themselves in overfulfilling the state plan. Also, for victories in the All-Union Socialist Competition, this award was given to employees of organizations and enterprises of regional, district and regional subordination, as well as collective farms and state farms.
There was also a single all-Union award. This sign of the winner of the All-Union socialist competition was awarded to employees of organizations and enterprises of union subordination by decision of the Central Committee of Trade Unions and the decision of the relevant ministry or department. Separately, employees of organizations and enterprises of republican subordination, as well as regional, regional and district employees were noted.
Together with the sign, the winner of the socialist competition was given a certificate, and an entry was made in the work book. For the participants of these production competitions, who became winners, this award was included in the list of departmental insignia. In particular, it gave the right to confer the title of "Veteran of Labour". Atwinner of the socialist competition, there were additional benefits and advantages that most sought to enjoy.
What the sign looked like
Initially, the sign was made of aluminum. It was a gear with an unfolded banner in the very center, as well as with a border of laurel leaves. On the banner was the inscription "Winner of the socialist competition." Directly below the banner were depicted a sickle, hammer and ears of wheat, as well as the year in which the award was awarded. It was customary to hang this sign in a block in the form of a bow with a star located in the center. The award was attached to clothes with a hairpin.
In 1976, the design was changed, but the overall style was preserved. The badge was also a gear with an unfolded banner in the center, which indicated the year the award was presented on a blue background. It was suspended from a rectangular block.
The essence of social competition
The majority of workers and collective farmers aspired to become an excellent student of the socialist competition of the USSR. The leadership of the Communist Party and the Soviet government noted that it was not only about incentives and benefits, but also about the very essence of the planned economy.
Social competition was considered one of the important elements of the economic mechanism of a socialist society. It was a lever for social and economic progress, as well as an effective school of labor, political and moral education.workers. At the same time, the main function was still considered economic. Everything was aimed at increasing the efficiency of social production and high labor productivity. Socialist competitions were called upon to orient the working people towards the struggle for high quality products and quantitative indicators. At the same time, they were considered to contribute to the formation of human creativity, playing an important role in eliminating significant differences between manual and mental work.
It was noted that this is a task of national importance, which was based on the comparability of results, transparency, the possibility of repeating best practices. A large role in this at all stages belonged to the Communist Party, trade unions and the Komsomol organization.
Management
The authorities noted that the analysis of the functions of social competition demonstrated its great importance in the development and life of society. Therefore, over time, its management has become an important lever of economic construction. It was believed that with skillful use it is possible to achieve tactical and strategic goals in the social and economic development of the country.
Management of social competition required certain specifics, as it was a complex socio-economic process. It had general functions, for example, organization, planning, control, stimulation. At the same time, its planning was supposed not by approving a specific plan with a quantitative definition of results, but by ordering, defining a goal,developing the direction of the competition.
Taking into account all the specifics of social competitions, a large-scale work was carried out to explain the goals in this area of production for different groups of workers, given their role in the dynamic production process, as well as promoting best practices for its dissemination. After all, socialist competitions were held not only in the Soviet Union, but also in most countries that were part of the socialist camp.
After developing the specific goals of the competition, as well as the specifics of the production and economic activities of the teams, the main thing in management becomes the coordination of the efforts of all production links.
It has always been noted that stimulation plays a big role in managing social competition. It was believed that it was necessary to intensify social and industrial activity, satisfying the most diverse needs of the working people. At the same time, great importance was attached to a combination of moral and material incentives. It was constantly noted that a competition based only on a moral component contains the danger of becoming an empty formality, empty talk and hype. Competition based solely on material interests risks losing important socialist content.
In total, there were four phases in the process of managing the social competition. The first related to the collection of comprehensive information about the current state of social competition as an object of control. From the quantitative side, it is important to determine the composition of its participants, while the qualitative side becomes even more important.diverse. It includes the content of social obligations, the existence of direct agreements between specific parts of the team, the development of relations of cooperation and comradely mutual assistance.
The second phase of this process involves the formation of a goal. To do this, all the collected information is analyzed, requirements for the team are formulated, the available reserves are assessed, and a model of the future state is drawn up. In the third phase, the main forces are thrown into the development of methods and ways to achieve the intended goal. This includes the development of several options for changing each indicator, the selection of specific managers to achieve the targets.
The fourth phase ensures the connection of the object with the subject of control. It consists in the influence of the organizers on the entire competition system, as well as in obtaining information about the results and new conditions.
Such ways and methods were carried out direct control of the socialist competition at all its stages and at all levels. This feature of the planned economy structure existed in our country and other states for several decades, finally exhausting itself by the end, demonstrating its unviability and all its senselessness.
