ae eae

Workers backbone of
Afghanistan revolution

KABUL — In People’s Afghanistan the rise of its
working class literally takes place before your very
eyes. All told in a nation of 16 million there are 162,000
workers, members of trade unions (150,000 in produc-
tion). But as in Tsarist Russia and in the early days of
the October Revolution, they play a far more important
role than their numbers would suggest.

Afghanistan’s small working class is the steel back-
bone of the democratic people’s revolution. Every
enterprise has its workers’ armed defence group. A force
of 15,000 workers guards 135 plants and shops, patrols
highways, protects government and public buildings. All
at night after working hours.

Leslie Gelb, quoting uncritically the Reagan ad-
ministration and its ‘‘experts’’ in the New York Times,
May 5, 1983, states that the government of the Demo-
cratic Republic of Afghanistan “‘remains hopelessly un-
popular and that its army is dwiridling’’.

All I can say is that the wish is father to the thought.

Let Gelb tell it to Sharif Khoher and 243 of his fellow
workers (out of a work force of 1,200) who take turns
standing guard over the Jangolok (Little Forest) Auto-
motive and Mechanical Plant in Kabul. The entire 1,200
wanted to volunteer but only the best were given the

- honor. I asked Sharif, a short, wiry man with flashing

black eyes, who worked 18 years in the plant, why after a
hard day’s work he risked his life to protect the enter-
prise. Sharif stared at me in surprise:

“IT worked 18 years, most of the time making the rich
richer. This is our plant now. Do you think we will ever
Jet anyone take it away from us?”’

“Our Plant!’ is teaching 172 workers to read and
write. It provides them with a medical station staffed by
a doctor and nurse right on the job. The free medical
includes the entire family (six children on the average). It
has given them and their children largely paid-for vaca-
tions often in the palaces of the former feudal lords. It
provides them with extensive cultural and sports
facilities, and a store which sells them basic commodities
at below cost prices.

Real wages have been raised everywhere 26 per cent
and 50 per cent for the lowest paid. Free transportation
to and from work, free hot lunches, the opportunity for
young workers to learn a trade; nurseries and creches for
working mothers, three months maternity leave with pay
and an additional 270 days without pay — their jobs
guaranteed. Women are not permitted to work night
shifts or at strenuous labor.

Jangolok’s well-stocked library is one of 400 under the
supervision of the Afghan trade unions as are 1,913
literacy courses.

All this is in a country where before the revolution no
unions were permitted. The first unions were formed in
1975 and had to work underground. Most of the Jangolok
workers know what it is to risk one’s life and liberty for

From Afghanistan

Mike Davidow

the right to organize. It took the April Revolution in 1978
to legalize the trade unions in Afghanistan. Hardly had
they begun to enjoy their freedom when tragedy struck in
the form of the Amin (Pol Pot-like) terror.

Amin killed many of the trade union leaders and im-
prisoned many others including the now-president, S.
Purdely. Amin plundered the union treasury and turned
its headquarters into an espionage centre. The ranks of
the union were decimated and workers left in droves.
Thus, the first task was not only to reestablish the trade
unions but to restore their proper role and win back the
confidence of the workers. This has since been fully
accomplished. .

A well functioning union now exists in all 29 provinces

and plays a leading role in drawing up and enforcing 5 |

labor legislation: there are 1,300 primary organizations, =
850 branches and 2,000 groups.

Only 10 per cent of the union members are women,
Nafisa Paikargar, 31, told me. Nafisa is national secret-
ary of the Council of Afghan Trade Unions. She pointed
out that the problems created by the undeclared war
were accelerating and intensifying the role being played
by women in production since many of the men have had
to go into the armed services. Women are rapidly taking
Over many jobs and learning new skills.

Women receive equal pay for the same work. The
process of development Nafisa was describing was de-
monstrated in the Jangolok plant. Not many women are
employed here because of the heavy physical labor in-
volved. However, I saw quite a few learning to master
complicated milling machines in the mechanical depart-
ment.

Bariganek Khaim, 30, and the mother of four said she
was thrilled with her new job. Her husband is serving in
the army and her children are either at school or a nurse-
ry. Why did she leave home to learn the intricies of this
huge machine? Her reply? ‘Who will produce the things
we need if not we? We are working for ourselves at least.
So, everyone has to learn how to work well’’.

Umar Mahmed, Jangolok’s director is as familiar with
the workers as he is with every operation of this plant
spread over 25 acres. Now 38, he studied for five years in
Moscow’s technical institutes and speaks fluent Rus-
sian. The plant was built by the Soviet Union in 1961
when Afghanistan was still a kingdom. The USSR
supplies 99 per cent of its steel and most of its technical
equipment.

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Militia volunteers undergoing light weapons’ training.

Production and defence go hand in hand.

In Jangolok the ancient East is mingled with modern
technology. More than half the workers are garbed in the
lose, flowing multi-colored garments their ancestors
have worn for ages, the turbans wrapped around their
head adding imposing stature to their tall, lean bodies. A
middle-aged man with a patriarchial beard streaked gray,
and a white turban skillfully manoeuvres a Soviet jeep.
Outside, shielded from the hot midday sun, a woman,
her face concealed behind a light green chodaree, waits
for her husband.

Thursday is a half day. Tomorrow; Friday, is the
Moslem Sabbath. However, this Friday will be a work
day — a subbotnik. All the funds earned will go toward
building schools, playgrounds and nurseries for’ the
children.

Afghanistan’s working-class is growing up with its
revolution. Their’s is on-the-job.training not only.in new.
skills but how to run a country and its institutions. It will
take plenty of time and hard work, but in Afghanistan
you see in life the meaning of international solidarity.
You get to appreciate the value of the rich experiences
accumulated by the USSR, and the vast store of knowl-
edge added by the socialist countries. This genuine
international solidarity even more than the Soviet milit-
ary aid, is the main target of counter-revolution and
world imperialism. ~

Mike Davidow is Moscow correspondent for the U.S.
Daily World. Second in a series.

|

Where training and jobs are provided

By VAN BAIBURT

TBILISI (APN) — This past summer
over 100,000 young men and women who
had just finished the general secondary or
vocational schools in Georgia, (a Soviet
Republic in Transcaucasia), took up jobs
at the industrial plants of the republic.
But only 1,015 out of the 1,300 specialties
existing in this republic are open to them.
According to the labor legislation of the
Georgian Union Republic, it is forbidden
to recruit teenagers under 18 for the
remaining 285 specialties because they
are Considered to be noxious and ardu-
ous jobs. The observance ofthis rule at
enterprises is controlled by the trade
unions. :

“The sole aim of such stringent re-
Strictions is to protect the young
people’s health,”’ says Iosif Hazaradze,
secretary of the Republican Trade Union
Council. “‘Our grassroot-level organiza-
tions keep a watchful eye on ensuring
that production factors should not
adversely affect the young people’s
organisms which are not yet strong
enough’’.

This summer about 700 young men and

women went to work at the chemical
works in the city of Rustavi. A labor
agreement was concluded with each of
them, and their working conditions and
pay were agreed upon. At special
courses they learned the rules of indus-
trial hygiene and safety engineering. The
trade union committee, which partici-
pates in the job placement of new-
comers, has seen to it that all of them
work in factory departments with the
most favorable production environment.
Furthermore, the commission for youth
affairs of the trade union committee held
a talk with each of them about the tech-
nical specifics of the enterprise and, by
its expert advice, helped each new-
comer get accustomed more quickly in
the new situation.

Six-hour Day

Favorable conditions are ensured for
young workers wherever they work — in
the heavy, light, electronic or machine-
building industries, in agriculture, or at
institutions. In keeping with legislation,
their working day lasts six hours though
they are paid for a full eight-hour working
day. It is illegal to make them work at

night or on their days off. If a manager
ignores these rules he can be penalized or
even dismissed at the instance of the
trade unions.

Once director of the Zestafon ferro-
alloy-making plant Archil Skitishvili,
proceeding from the production neces-
sity (the enterprise was failing to fulfil the
plan targets in time), ordered that work
on days off be temporarily introduced.
This decision was to be approved by the
trade union committee, as it is prescribed
by law and by the collective agreement.
The trade union committee gave its con-
sent, deeming it to be an exceptional
case, but with a reservation that workers
under 18 should be excluded. But the
director insisted on drawing all the per-
sonnel of the plant into the work on days
off. A conflict began which ended
deplorably for the director. At the in-
stance of the republican committee of the
trade union, to which the factory trade
union committee of the plant had ap-
pealed, the USSR Ministry of Ferrous
Metallurgy dismissed Skitishvili from his
post. 3

The trade unions also exercise strict

control over the granting of privileges
and benefits introduced for those work-
ers who study at evening or correspon-
dence junior or senior colleges without
discontinuing their work. In keeping with
legislation, apart from the reduced work-
ing hours, they are also given one day off
every week in addition to their regular
days off. Along with the main fully-paid
vacations the workers who continue to
study receive an additional leave for tak-
ing their exams, preparing their diploma
thesis, and so on. They retain the average
monthly pay for the whole additional
leave which lasts from 20 to 40 days.

The defence of the interests of young
workers by the trade unions is not con-

.fined to the production sphere. Youths’
social requirements figure prominently in

the collective agreements which are con-
cluded with the management. For in-
stance, the collective agreement at the
Tbilisi electric locomotive-making plant
provides for building a hostel for young
people and a stadium this year. The
management and the trade unions have
paid for 140 tourist trips to various areas
of the country, made by young workers.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 8. 1984065