By Joseph North

es - MOSCOW
4 A “itionwide Movement to overfulfil
“sing he 1974 production plan is in full
“thy, at ., 8 impact is felt every
| Mettings in md Communist Party

Onradis In the newspapers, on TV and

Obsery
‘Meceden: €rs feel that the scope is un-
the Soviet Mm Many ways, even for
F €t Union where colossal

corded. tts have repeatedly been re-

an" effort a ed “The Counter-
et abor productivity high-
aie Year via the techniques of
) Bap technological revolution
uetivity ae. 80al. (Improved labor pro-
| eordes “Ccounted for 85% of the gains
1973 over 1972.) The tempo
2 Sey contemplated is
| Cteatiy:  individual’s work
| fully to eaimust be extended even more
| fehnolon set the new machinery and
in <u being introduced constantly
Practicaly Ses of industry and farming.
trade Sch, very factory now has a
&s to oe that instructs its work-
Stantly mo € the new tools and. con-
| Te complex techniques.
One
bo p “ample of the Soviet approach
veggie UCtivity is a Moscow food pro-

Ing
‘Wits and produces 30 brands

canned foodstuffs—from
‘eg Tres, to soups, to instant cof-

annually. The factory’s
Be ine, Samoilov, the leaders of
Helen Vosyinw’, Ludmilla Erslova and

AY a,
the fachony youn deputy director of
Chinery lureau designing new ma-
ions. Th ime out to answer my
. ae emphasized the key
De Dlays Clalist process of ‘“emula-
jy) Mation» oe their work and in the
fF the term omy generally. Emulation
{ exceed the competition of work-
ign, terest — another’s output in
Feet It simmer’ Country and social-
"ration ultaneously involves coop-

P

y

|) Canoe Y . Stresseg
bug of ae the
Mo Wards.

$ reeeive Te to the co ’ N

| teri the untry’s well-being

tig and Peace rewards, both ma-

the It is our

primary signifi-

al aaa Samoilov
te Seng Txist principle from
“lity, to evom each Scbonding to his
The directa according to his work.”
ang ingly “4 also said that workers,
viel eed with the grandeur
ing y % et of. the collective cre-
‘en, deco _ acterizes the Soviet Un-
a tent.” Ty 4 major. factor: in man-
Vea teferriny, ome ‘“‘innovators,”’
Te 22 im & to those who have de-
thods © “™Provement in ’ production

4 R This pl,

if Lent dug called the Lenin Award

if 2 im tkers, bo, Pactory, employing
lon Vators qq.0t them women, has

pide Soci They belong to the na-

Mets ints ce’ Of Innovators that

U€ millions.

if ate trade aa :
ats Said ‘on secretary, comrade
She Ute of at innovation was an

Mid, i
ty 4 that L Process of emulation.
tay Portance €nin spoke of the cen-
it a i Of emulation, and re-
lalism an or aspect of build-

fe Communism.
ttiag Hon oa our own factory how
boy” — ew remarkable in-
xT) ae Upon Said. “It has brought
bor h _ housands of workers

e
Toes to public attention.”

~ Cfo =

| its Dhase now, the director added,
Monee ate th advanced socialism is

; into Creative effort of the
Nonghetty. Thi © economic policy of
R Peopl S means orienting the

t results achieve new and
tt product Pec ially in the qual-

28:

ina
dex tay ality in production is
_ -*PFovement in technology

Sky, and Ekaterina No- -

f MMhathetp Ee Of experience and”

“Those who contri-

way-
emulation,
innovation
and
automation

and efficiency,” he said. “Emulation
‘is resulting in the most effective use
‘ of labor, material and financial resourc-
es, reducing expenditures and minimiz-
: te.’’ :
Tee alant competes with two others,
one in Leningrad and one in Kiev. Our
representatives meet every three
months to compare notes and exchange
experiences. and advances,”’ ‘the com-
rade of the designing bureau said. She
is a graduate of a technical institute
and of the factory’s school. — ,
The base of emulation is the state
plan. But the process has undergone
new developments. Pledges to overful-
fil were formerly made after the state
plan was approved. Now the factory's
goal is to set the target -for achieve-
ment before final approval, so that
the ultimate government. plan for the
enterprise will be a unified document.
The food factory submitted its counter-
last September. ,
Phe ant is spotless. A fragrant odor
of spices permeates the halls. We
went to the packing department where
prepared baby food conveyed in pipes
overhead was pouring into silver-foil
kages.
Sein automatically and conveyed to
a moving belt where the packages were
placed into cartons. These particular
cartons were destined for Cuba.

The director explained that emulation _

involves teams of workers as well as
the factory as a whole, and in this case
the team comprised those in the pack-
aging department. Innovations were
introduced last year by this group that
saved the plant tens of thousands of
rubles in labor effort and materials.

A principal innovation in discovering
new and more rational ways of filling
the silver-foil packages and in loading
the cartons saved thousands of hours
of labor time, diminished the process
of conveying the number of cartons to
the warehouse, and reduced the amount
of cardboard required. In a factory that
annually produces 150 million rubles
worth of food, the saving amounts to

_aconsiderable sum.

“This is but a single, simple im-
provement,” the director said, “but it
inspired others to do likewise.” He in-
troduced us to the workers primarily
responsible—a woman worker on the
belt, the department engineer, and the
department chief, also a woman. They
eceived considerable bonuses for their

‘icates and having on

These were _ hermetically -

innovation. In addition they received
“moral compensation,’’ as the term
has it: their photographs were placed
on the board of honor in the factory
and were published in the union news-

per. ;
The director said it may be hard for
some Western minds to understand, but

‘many Soviet workers, now that the

basic pay rates are higher than ever
before, prefer moral rewards to the
material. A -poll was taken on this
score in the Likhachov auto plant in
Moscow, one of the country’s biggest.
It disclosed that of all possible rewards

for success in socialist competition,

the most popular were pone ‘certif-
photo on the

board of honor (32.6%), second was an-
nouncement of achievements in the fac-

‘ory newspaper (18.9%), third, valuable

gifts, (18.3%), fourth, free holidays in
sanatoria and rest homes (14.9%), and
finally, cash bonuses. (14.37%).

“The trade union secretary said she
believed the same results would prob-
ably be found in this plant, “but many
of our women have children at home
and material awards at this point might
be preferable to no few.”

The plant’s counter-plan was accept-

:ea vy the Planning Commission and was

incorporated into the final draft. The Su-
preme Soviet then passed it and it now
has the force of law.

The director outlined the basic- fac-
tors in socialist planning: first, demand
for the product; second, industrial ca-
pacity of the plant; third, coordination

with delivery of raw materials.

“These three components,” said the
director, ‘‘were taken into account
when we worked out our counter-plan.”’

‘Planning this year, he said, began
when the Ministry of Foods ‘‘present-
ed us with figures of the amount of
processed food expected from our
plant. These are the control figures.
With them in mind we discussed our
capacity. Could we meet them? Could

-we exceed them? This was thorough-

ly discussed, first. in our administra-
tive committee, then with the workers

‘in each department, finally at a gener-

A packaging machine in a Moscow food .
factory.

i

——————————————————————————

al meeting of all workérs.

“We correlated our discussion with
the factories from which we buy our
raw materials. They are in the coun-
tryside, near the farms which grow the
products that are later dried and pro-
cessed. Then we summed up our find-
ings and discovered we could exceed
the control figures the Ministry had
‘sent us. We submitted our counter-plan,
the Ministry discussed it within the
context of other plans of factories in
this same industry, for the Ministry
has the entire picture. It accepted our
plan for fulfilment.”’

Wat happens if there are differences
between the original control figures
the Ministry presented, and the final
conclusions of the factory? The direc-
tor said that differences are generally
marginal, for the authorities are in
close touch with the plant’s record, and
thus make no extraordinary demands.
“But if there is a difference,” he said,
“we let them know. For example,
suppose our packaging department said

_it cannot meet the goal because it

lacks a sufficient supply of cartons. We

take that fact up with the Ministry.

Because it has the full view, it can sug-
gest how we can add to our supply,
get additional cartons manufactured
from other factories. They help us
solve our problems.”’ *

He referred me to a letter sent re-
cently by the Central Committee of the
Communist Party to all party members
and the working class. It stated:

“The targets of the state plan which
have been adopted for 1974 are highly
crucial. But even the most detailed
plan cannot take into full account all
the massive reserves of the socialist
economy which may be additionally
revealed and tapped, thanks to a cre-
ative. approach to work, broad devel-
opment of initiative, and a higher de-
gree of organization and responsibility

pf each collective and each working

What about workers’ who ia behind, I
asked. He replied that they do not earn
as much as others. And since work is
a social process, the customary prac-.
tice is for team-comrades to help those
who need help, and teach them how to
meet the norms.

“There are many instances in all fac-
tories of advanced workers who will
take leave of their teams by mutual
agreement and join others who are be-
hind, in an effort to teach them more.
advanced skills,”’ the director said.

Emulation means competition and
comradely cooperation, the trade union
secretary said. ‘It develops and draws
on the moral capacity of our workers
to reach new heights. This is what is
happening nationwide.”

She was certain that advances will
be made in 1974 exceeding those of.
1973,,and eradicating the shortcomings
and errors in some branches of work

that were pointed out by Leonid Bre-—

zhnev in recent speeches.

The leaders of the plant spoke of the
various social emoluments the factory
has gained because of its achievements.
It has had kindergartens and child care.
medical centers for working mothers
for a long time now. Its library of
27,000 volumes is highly appreciated
by its 1,500 workers. It has two rest
homes in the country and at the shore.
It has a school that trains its own
workers for more complex operations
as new and more modern machinery
is installed.

“We are putting in a new unit and a
nine-story office building this year,”
the trade union secretary said. ‘‘Thus

we try to improve the conditions of

our workers and make our. contribution
to. the country as a whole. We are de-

dicated to that goal. As Communists
we are loyal to internationalism. We
send your workers greetings and invite
them to be our guests at this factory.
We are happy we are able to enter into
contracts with Cuba and send it the

food you saw.”

Ot | oF.