WORLD —

Talking with Soviet miners,
their lives and their work .

4

MOSCOW — Thanks to the Soviet coal miners’ union
I was able to visit the Viladimirovskaya coal mine in the
Tula region, some 150 kilometres south of the Soviet
capital. At the mine, my interpreter and I were met by
Valeri Petrovich Brodovski, the 42 year-old manager of
this enterprise.

Employed here are 1,480 workers extracting brown
coal used by thermo-electric stations in the region after
being enriched in a special plant which is part of the
mining enterprise.

This mine is five years old, the youngest in the region.
Most of the modern techniques available in the world
market for mining brown coal below the surface are
used, but the machinery and equipment are Soviet made.

The average age of the workforce here is 38, the
youngest man working at the coal face is 20 and the
oldest 72, as I learned in a discussion which took place in
the manager’s office. Present was a large and representa-
tive group of miners, which included the trade union,
Party and Young Communist League organizers at the
mine. The discussion was lively and quite frank, ending
with a question-and-answer session about the conditions
of workers in Canada.

The basic work week for coal miners here is 36 hours.
They work five, seven-hour days for six weeks and then
put in an extra day in the seventh week, thus averaging
36 a week. The average monthly pay ranges from 240 to
700 roubles a month, including bonuses. The majority
earn between 3-400 a month. This mine is not as deep or
as dangerous as many other mines in the Soviet Union

‘where the monthly compensation is higher.

The overall average wage in the country is 185 roubles
per month making coal miners among the highest paid
workers in the Soviet Union.

Those who work on the surface earn from 140 to 350
roubles per month. This group includes skilled workers
and technicians connected with the mining process, can-
teen workers, medical staff and other support workers.
Coal miners can go on pension at age 50, after at least 10
years of employment, but most of them prefer to keep
working. If a miner makes this choice, he receives both
his monthly compensation and his full pension. Surface
workers who continue to work after receiving a pension
are limited to total monthly earnings of 300 roubles a
month. :

By the time you read this, all coal miners in the Soviet
Union will have received a 30 per cent pay increase. The
straight salary, I was told, constitutes from 70 to 80 per
cent of monthly earnings.

The workers at this mine live in three major settle-
ments and they are taken to the mine and back by bus.
There is a canteen where meals are served at a quarter of
the cost. Workers at the face get their hot meal free of
charge. There is a medical checkpoint complete with
dental services on the premises and all treatment is free,
irrespective of whether the illness, or potential illness, is
work related or not.

For example, dental care includes fillings, extractions
and dentures. Also on the premises are a gymnasium, a
billiards room and a corner for the chess club. Soon there
will be an indoor swimming pool and extensive facili-
ties for hydrotherapy and massage treatment.

Every miners settlement has a place of culture (re-
creational center) which belongs to the mine. Construc-

From Moscow
Jack Phillips

tion and maintenance costs are paid for by management
but the day-to-day operation is run by the trade union.
These centers feature amateur performances from all the
mines in the region and amateur and professional groups
from Moscow. The facilities are also used by hobby
groups, for meetings and for gala events.

This particular mine has developed two recreational
areas where miners and their families can spend their
vacations. Bungalows have been built for families and
dormitories for single men. Each of these areas has a
canteen which serves meals. Medical services are also
provided.

Soviet miners enjoy 36 to 48 days paid vacation per
year. This creates difficulties for those responsible for
providing sufficient space in holiday homes and boarding
houses, but the problem is being solved. New facilities
are being constructed as part of the overall plan for the
economy and on the initiative of mine management and
the trade union.

Four hundred thousand miners from all over the
Soviet Union now spend their annual vacation at
sanatoria and holiday homes. One-fifth of the them pay
nothing and the remainder pay only 30 per cent of the
cost, with the balance being paid out of funds at the
disposal of the trade union for this purpose. Those who
wish to avail themselves of this opportunity apply to
their trade union, which makes the selection.

During my stay in the region I visited a preventive care
center for miners. Every miner is entitled to sign himself
in twice a year for overnight treatment. On each occa-
sion, he is entitled to spend 24 nights at the center.
Sleeping accommodation is provided, in rooms for three
occupants or in rooms set aside for families. All three
shifts are accommodated. The total cost for a 28 day
treatment is 180 roubles but the miner pays only 22
roubles. There is a small, extra cost for family accom-
modation. Full course meals are provided at a fraction of
cost. One-fifth of the miners in the Tula region utilize
these centers.

The one I visited was well equipped with special
hydro-therapy rooms, massage facilities, exercise
rooms, mud bath facilities and a fully-equipped dental
care room. In addition to all these amenities, there are 54
kindergartens in the Tula region catering to miners’ chil-
dren from the ages of 18 months to school entrance age.
They are well staffed by qualified professional workers.
Parents pay only a fraction of the cost, based on earn-
ings, to a maximum of twelve and one-half roubles a
month.

The one I visited had a staff of 56 to care for 190
children, 12 hours a day. Meals are provided and there is
a wide variety of activities, depending on age and ap-
titudes. The overall emphasis is on the physical and
cultural aspects of child raising, preparation for school

PHOTO —TASS -

“By the time you read this,” writes Phillips, ‘all Sol
coal miners will have received a 30 per cent wage
crease.”

- entrance and collective activity. Play is a vital part of
learning process. ,
The state lays down the qualifications for the staff:
the main guidelines for their work. It also pays th
salaries. All other costs are borne by the managemen
the enterprise, as per the collective agreement, but
trade union is responsible for the operation of the cen!
There is a place for every miners’ child in the regi¢

It is typical of the Soviet Union that the manager of
Vladimirovskaia mine is only 42 years od and is paid 7
than some of the skilled workers under his direction.
monthly salary is 360 roubles a month. With |
formance bonuses, his total compensation goes as
as 600 a month, which is less than what some worker
the coal face earn.

But in our discussion he seemed to be more concel
about fulfilling the state plan and keeping the coal mil
happy. It seemed obvious to me that he was popular:
respected by all the workers at the meeting — W
raises a question: How did he get to be the manag

First he trained to be a fitter and went to work at
coal face. Then he moved up, to become a coal face te
leader and an engineer through a corresponde
course. He then went on and upward to beet
deputy-chief of a mine section, chief of section, c
engineer and deputy manager of a mine, in that or
The Tula coal amalgamation recommended that he
come the manager of the new mine and the Minist!
Mines in Moscow concurred.

The manager assured me that even those who com
the mines with higher technical or professional qu
fications start at a lower level. ‘They have to learn’
mining from the bottom up,”’ he said.

The trade union organizer was very proud of the
that a representative of the striking British coal mil
visited their mine on Oct. 2 and addressed a gatherif
miners. A collection resulted in a donation of 2,800!
bles for the British fellow workers, he told me. To°¢
15,000 roubles have been collected for the British mil
at the mines in the Tula region. :

This speaks well for their feeling of internat}
solidarity and their understanding of the issues at st
the British coal miners strike. Soviet miners have 4
life, in relation to that of coal miners in capitalist 0
tries, and they know it. That’s why they can under’!
the struggle of the British miners for the right to aJ®
right taken for granted in the Soviet Union.

| | oe ae

South
African
regime’s
brutality
cited

’WPC charges,

The World Peace Council, in a
strongly worded cable, Nov. 7,
has condemned the recent killings
on Nov. 5-6 by apartheid military
forces of 16 protesters.

‘In this latest outrage,’ the
‘“‘many were
wounded when the army and
police fired at strikers in Soweto,
Sebokeng, Katlebong, Sharpe-
ville and other townships. Thirty
people were arrested.”

The cable continues: ‘‘These
crimes against the South African
people by the racist regime are
part of the unprecedented wave of
apartheid violence which has
swept the country in recent
months leaving many dead or

8 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 14, 1984

wounded. It is clear that the racist
authorities are making a con-
certed effort to crush the massive
movement of Democratic forces
in their struggle against all at-
tempts to entrench apartheid. As
aresult the country is ina state of
revolt.

‘‘The successful general strike

organized by trade unions and.

anti-apartheid movements in-
volved tens of thousands of
people. Industry in the Johannes-
burg are was_ paralyzed.
Thousands of students boycotted
classes to demonstrate their rejec-
tion of white minority rule and the
imposition of puppet Black urban

councils, which are used to co-opt’

certain Black surrogate groups in
the maintenance of apartheid.

‘Apartheid is preparing for war
against the majority of South Af-
ricans; it continues its illegal
occupation of Namibia and is at
the same time preparing for a re-
gional war of aggression because
of the encouragement and in-
creasing support it receives from
the U.S. and other major western
countries.

‘The World Peace Council re-
news its condemnation of the con-
tinued shooting of unarmed
people and the western collabora-
tion with the Pretoria regime. It
fully supports the strikers’ de-

‘Black and coloured resi¢’

mands for the withdrawal 0”

‘ fi
es #
army and police forc te
areas, the release of all detalf
and political prisoners, thé
instatement of workers who
been fired, equal and univ?
education, and the freeze of
and bus fares.
“The WPC calls on all P#
solidarity and democratic fo
to reiterate their strong CO”
nation of apartheid’s escalatl©
violence and repression
the South African majority
rally in support of the mas$ =
African movement in its figh!
freedom under the leaders”
the African National Con8™