V. I. Lenin

Role and Functions of the Trade Unions

Under The New Economic Policy

Decision Of The C.C., R.C.P.(B.), January 12, 1922 [1]

1. The New Economic Policy And The Trade Unions

The New Economic Policy introduces a number of important changes
in the position of the proletariat and, consequently, in that of
the trade unions. The great bulk of the means of production in
industry and the transport system remains in the hands of the
proletarian state. This, together with the nationalisation of
the land, shows that the New Economic Policy does not change the
nature of the workers’ state, although it does substantially alter the methods and forms of socialist
development for it permits of economic rivalry between socialism, which is now being built, and capitalism, which is
trying to revive by supplying the needs of the vast masses of
the peasantry through the medium of the market.

Changes in the forms of socialist development are necessary
because the Communist Party and the Soviet government are now
adopting special methods to implement the general policy of
transition from capitalism to socialism and in many respects are
operating differently from the way they operated before: they
are capturing a number of positions by a "new flanking movement", so to speak; they are retreating in order to make
better preparations for a new offensive against capitalism. In
particular, a free market and capitalism, both subject to state
control, are now being permitted and are developing; on the
other hand, the socialised state enterprises are being put on
what is called a profit basis, i. e., they are being reorganised
on commercial lines, which, in view of the general cultural
backwardness and exhaustion of the country, will, to a greater
or lesser degree, inevitably give rise to the impression among
the masses that there is an antagonism of interest between the
management of the different enterprises and the workers employed
in them.

2. State Capitalism In The Proletarian State
And The Trade Unions

The proletarian state may, without changing its own nature,
permit freedom to trade and the development of capitalism only
within certain bounds, and only on the condition that the state
regulates (supervises, controls, determines the forms and
methods of, etc.) private trade and private capitalism. The
success of such regulation will depend not only on the state
authorities but also, and to a larger extent, on the degree of
maturity of the proletariat and of the masses of the working
people generally, on their cultural level, etc. But even if this
regulation is completely successful, the antagonism of class
interests between labour and capital will certainly remain. Consequently, one of the main tasks that will henceforth
confront the trade unions is to protect in every way the class
interests of the proletariat in its struggle against capital. This task should be openly put in the forefront, and
the machinery of the trade unions must be reorganised, changed
or supplemented accordingly (conflict commissions, strike funds,
mutual aid funds, etc., should be formed, or rather, built up).

3. The State Enterprises That Are Being Put On A Profit Basis
And The Trade Unions

The transfer of state enterprises to the so-called profit basis
is inevitably and inseparably connected with the New Economic
Policy; in the near future this is bound to become the predominant, if not the sole, form of state enterprise. In
actual fact, this means that with the free market now permitted
and developing the state enterprises will to a large extent be
put on a commercial basis. In view of the urgent need to
increase the productivity of labour and make every state
enterprise pay its way and show a profit, and in view of the
inevitable rise of narrow departmental interests and excessive
departmental zeal, this circumstance is bound; to create a
certain conflict of interests in matters concerning labour
conditions between the masses of workers and the directors and
managers of the state enterprises, or the government departments
in charge of them. Therefore, as regards the socialised
enterprises, it is undoubtedly the duty of the trade unions to
protect the interests of the working people, to facilitate as
far as possible the improvement of their standard of living, and
constantly to correct the blunders and excesses of business
organisations resulting from bureaucratic distortions of the
state apparatus.

4. The Essential Difference Between The Class Struggle Of The
Proletariat In A State Which Recognises Private Ownership Of
The Land, Factories, Etc., And Where Political Power Is In
The Hands Of The Capitalist Class, And The Economic
Struggle Of The Proletariat In A State Which Does Not
Recognise Private Ownership Of The Land And The Majority Of
The Large Enterprises And Where Political. Power Is In The
Hands Of The Proletariat

As long as classes exist, the class struggle is inevitable. In
the period of transition from capitalism to socialism the
existence of classes is inevitable; and the Programme of the
Russian Communist Party definitely states that we are taking
only the first steps in the transition from capitalism to
socialism. Hence, the Communist Party, the Soviet government and
the trade unions must frankly admit the existence of an economic
struggle and its inevitability until the electrification of
industry and agriculture is completed—at least in the main—and until small production and the supremacy of the
market are thereby cut off at the roots.

On the other hand, it is obvious that under capitalism the
ultimate object of the strike struggle is to break up the state
machine and to overthrow the given class state power.

Under the transitional type of proletarian state such as ours,
however, the ultimate object of every action taken by the
working class can only be to fortify the proletarian state and
the state power of the proletarian class by combating the
bureaucratic distortions, mistakes and flaws in this state, and
by curbing the class appetites of the capitalists who try to
evade its control, etc. Hence, the Communist Party, the Soviet
government and the trade unions must never forget and must never
conceal from the workers and the mass of the working people that
the strike struggle in a state where the proletariat holds
political power can be explained and justified only by the
bureaucratic distortions of the proletarian state and by all
sorts of survivals of the old capitalist system in the government offices on the one hand, and by the political
immaturity and cultural backwardness of the mass of the working
people on the other.

Hence, when friction and disputes arise between individual
contingents of the working class and individual departments and
organs of the workers’ state, the task of the trade unions
is to facilitate the speediest and smoothest settlement of these
disputes to the maximum advantage of the groups of workers they
represent, taking care, however, not to prejudice the interests
of other groups of workers and the development of the workers’ state and its economy as a whole; for only this
development can lay the foundations for the material and
cultural welfare of the working class. The only correct, sound
and expedient method of removing friction and of settling
disputes between individual contingents of the working class and
the organs of the workers’ state is for the trade unions
to act as mediators, and through their competent bodies either
to enter into negotiations with the competent business organisations on the basis of precise demands and proposals
formulated by both sides, or appeal to higher state bodies.

In cases where wrong actions of business organisations, the
backwardness of certain sections of workers, the provocations of
counter-revolutionary elements or, lastly, lack of foresight on
the part of the trade union organisations themselves lead to
open disputes in the form of strikes in state enterprises, and
so forth, the task of the trade unions is to bring-about the
speediest settlement of a dispute by taking measures in
conformity with the general nature of trade union activities,
that is, by taking steps to remove the real injustices and
irregularities and to satisfy the lawful and practicable demands
of the masses, by exercising political influence on the masses,
and so forth.

One of the most important and infallible tests of the correctness and success of the activities of the trade unions is
the degree to which they succeed in averting mass disputes in
state enterprises by pursuing a far-sighted policy with a view
to effectively protecting the interests of the masses of the
workers in all respects and to removing in time all causes of
dispute.

5. Reversion To Voluntary Trade Union Membership

The formal attitude of the trade unions to the automatic
enrolment of all wage-workers as union members has introduced a
certain degree of bureaucratic distortion in the trade unions
and has caused the latter to lose touch with the broad mass of
their membership. Hence, it is necessary most resolutely to
implement voluntary enrolment both of individuals and of groups
into trade unions. Under no circumstances must trade union
members be required to subscribe to any specific political
views; in this respect, as well as in respect of religion, the
trade unions must be non-partisan. All that must be required of
trade union members in the proletarian state is that they should
understand comradely discipline and the necessity of uniting the
workers’ forces for the purpose of protecting the interests of the working people and of assisting the working
people’s government, i. e., the Soviet government. The proletarian state must encourage the workers to organise in
trade unions both by juridical and material means; but the trade
unions can have no rights without duties.

6. The Trade Unions And The Management Of Industry

Following its seizure of political power, the principal and
fundamental interest of the proletariat lies in securing an
enormous increase in the productive forces of society and in the
output of manufactured goods. This task, which is clearly
formulated in the Programme of the Russian Communist Party, is
particularly urgent in our country today owing to post-war ruin,
famine and dislocation. Hence, the speediest and most enduring
success in restoring large-scale industry is a condition without
which no success can be achieved in the general cause of
emancipating labour from the yoke of capital and securing the
victory of socialism. To achieve this success in Russia, in her
present state, it is absolutely essential that all authority in
the factories should be concentrated in the hands of the
management. The factory management, usually built up on the
principle of one-man responsibility, must have authority
independently to fix and pay out wages, and also distribute
rations, working clothes, and all other supplies on the basis
and within the limits of collective agreements concluded with
the trade unions; it must enjoy the utmost freedom to manoeuvre,
exercise strict control of the actual successes achieved in
increasing production, in making the factory pay its way and in
increasing profits, and carefully select the most talented and
capable administrative personnel, etc.

Under these circumstances, all direct interference by the trade
unions in the management of factories must be regarded as
positively harmful and impermissible.

It would be absolutely wrong, however, to interpret this
indisputable axiom to mean that the trade unions must play no
part in the socialist organisation of industry and in the
management of state industry. Their participation in this is
necessary in the following strictly defined forms.

7. The Role And Functions Of The Trade Unions In The Business
And Administrative Organisations Of The Proletarian State

The proletariat is the class foundation of the state accomplishing the transition from capitalism to socialism. In a
country where the small peasantry is overwhelmingly predominant
the proletariat can successfully fulfil this function only if it
very skilfully, cautiously and gradually establishes an alliance
with the vast majority of the peasantry. The trade unions must
collaborate closely and constantly with the government, all the
political and economic activities of which are guided by the
class-conscious vanguard of the working class—the
Communist Party. Being a school of communism in general, the
trade unions must, in particular, be a school for training the
whole mass of workers, and eventually all working people, in the
art of managing socialist industry (and gradually also agriculture).

Proceeding from these principles, the trade unions’ part
in the activities of the business and administrative organisations of the proletarian state should, in the immediate
period, take the following main forms:

1. The trade unions should help to staff all the state business
and administrative bodies connected with economies: nominate
their candidates for them, stating their length of service,
experience, and so forth. Right of decision lies solely with
the business organisations, which also bear full responsibility for the activities of the respective
organisations. The business organisations, however, must give
careful consideration to the views on all candidates expressed by the trade unions concerned.

2. One of the most important functions of the trade unions is to
promote and train factory managers from among the workers and
the masses of the working people generally. At the present
time we have scores of such factory managers who are quite
satisfactory, and hundreds who are more or less satisfactory,
but very soon, however, we must have hundreds of the former
and thousands of the latter. The trade unions must much more
carefully and regularly than hitherto keep a systematic
register of all workers and peasants capable of holding posts
of this kind, and thoroughly, efficiently and from every
aspect verify the progress they make in learning the art of
management.

3. The trade unions must take a far greater part in the
activities of all the planning bodies of the proletarian
state, in drawing up economic plans and also programmes of
production and expenditure of stocks of material supplies for
the workers, in selecting the factories that are to continue
to receive state supplies, to be leased, or to be given out
as concessions, etc. The trade unions should undertake no
direct functions of controlling production in private and
leased enterprises, but participate in the regulation of
private capitalist production exclusively by sharing in the
activities of the competent state bodies. In addition to
participating in all cultural and educational activities and
in production propaganda, the trade unions must also, on an
increasing scale, enlist the working class and the masses of
the working people generally for all branches of the work of
building up the state economy; they must make them familiar
with all aspects of economic life and with all details of
industrial operations—from the procurement of raw materials to the marketing of the product; give them a more
and more concrete understanding of the single state plan of
socialist economy and the worker’s and peasant’s practical interest in its implementation.

4. The drawing up of scales of wages and supplies, etc., is one
of the essential functions of the trade unions in the building of socialism and in their participation in the
management of industry. In particular, disciplinary courts
should steadily improve labour discipline and proper ways of
promoting it and achieving increased productivity; but they
must not interfere with the functions of the People’s
Courts in general or with the functions of factory managements.

This list of the major functions of the trade unions in the work
of building up socialist economy should, of course, be drawn up
in greater detail by the competent trade union and government
bodies. Taking into account the experience of the enormous work
accomplished by the unions in organising the economy and its
management, and also the mistakes which have caused no little
harm and which resulted from direct, unqualified, incompetent
and irresponsible interference in administrative matters, it is
most important, in order to restore the economy and strengthen
the Soviet system, deliberately and resolutely to start
persevering practical activities calculated to extend over a
long period of years and designed to give the workers and all
working people generally practical training in the art of
managing the economy of the whole country.

8. Contact Wlth The Masses—The Fundamental Condition For
All Trade Union Activity

Contact with the masses, i. e., with the overwhelming majority
of the workers (and eventually of all the working people), is
the most important and most fundamental condition for the
success of all trade union activity. In all the trade union
organisations and their machinery, from bottom up, there should
be instituted, and tested in practice over a period of many
years, a system of responsible comrades—who must not all
be Communists—who should live right among the workers, study their lives in every detail, and be able unerringly, on
any question, and at any time, to judge the mood, the real
aspirations, needs and thoughts of the masses. They must be able
without a shadow of false idealisation to define the degree of
their class-consciousness and the extent to which they are
influenced by various prejudices and survivals of the past; and
they must be able to win the boundless confidence of the masses
by comradeship and concern for their needs. One of the greatest
and most serious dangers that confront the numerically small
Communist Party which, as the vanguard of the working class, is
guiding a vast country in the process of transition to socialism
(for the time being without the direct support of the more
advanced countries), is isolation from the masses, the danger
that the vanguard may run too far ahead and fail to "straighten
out the line", fail to maintain firm contact with the whole army
of labour, i. e., with the overwhelming majority of workers and
peasants. Just as the very best factory, with the very best
motors and first-class machines, will be forced to remain idle
if the transmission belts from the motors to the machines are
damaged, so our work of socialist construction must meet with
inevitable disaster if the trade unions—the transmission
belts from the Communist Party to the masses—are badly fitted or function badly. It is not sufficient to explain, to
reiterate and corroborate this truth; it must be backed up
organisationally by the whole structure of the trade unions and
by their everyday activities.

9. The Contradictions In The Status Of The Trade Unions Under
The Dictatorship Of The Proletariat

From all the foregoing it is evident that there are a number of
contradictions in the various functions of the trade unions. On
the one hand, their principal method of operation is that of
persuasion and education; on the other hand, as participants in
the exercise of state power they cannot refuse to share in
coercion. On the one hand, their main function is to protect the
interests of the masses of the working people in the most direct
and immediate sense of the term; on the other hand, as participants in the exercise of state power and builders of the
economy as a whole they cannot refuse to resort to pressure. On
the one hand, they must operate in military fashion, for the
dictatorship of the proletariat is the fiercest, most dogged and
most desperate class war; on the other hand, specifically
military methods of operation are least of all applicable to the
trade unions. On the one hand, they must be able to adapt
themselves to the masses, to their level; on the other hand,
they must never pander to the prejudices and backwardness of the
masses, but steadily raise them to a higher and higher level,
etc., etc. These contradictions are no accident, and they will
persist for several decades; for as long as survivals of
capitalism and small production remain, contradictions between
them and the young shoots of socialism are inevitable throughout
the social system.

Two practical conclusions must be drawn from this. First, for
the successful conduct of trade union activities it is not
enough to understand their functions correctly, it is not enough
to organise them properly. In addition, special tact is
required, ability to approach the masses in a special way in
each individual case for the purpose of raising these masses to
a higher cultural, economic and political stage with the minimum
of friction.

Second, the afore-mentioned contradictions will inevitably give
rise to disputes, disagreements, friction, etc. A higher body is
required with sufficient authority to settle these at once. This
higher body is the Communist Party and the international
federation of the Communist Parties of all countries—the
Communist International.

10. The Trade Unions And The Specialists

The main principles of this question are set forth in the
Programme of the Russian Communist Party; but these will remain
paper principles if constant attention is not paid to the facts
which indicate the degree to which they are put into practice. Recent facts of this kind are: first, cases of the
murder of engineers by workers in socialised mines not only in
the Urals, but also in the Donets Basin; second the suicide of
V. V. Oldenborger, Chief Engineer of the Moscow Waterworks,
because of the intolerable working conditions due to the
incompetent and impermissible conduct of the members of the
Communist group, as well as of organs of the Soviet government,
which prompted the All-Russia Central Executive Committee to
turn the whole matter over to the judicial authorities.

The Communist Party and the Soviet government as a whole bear a
far greater share of the blame for cases of this kind than the
trade unions. But the present issue is not one of establishing
the degree of political guilt, but of drawing certain political
conclusions. Unless our leading bodies, i. e., the Communist
Party, the Soviet government and the trade unions, guard as the
apple of their eye every specialist who does his work conscientiously and knows and loves it—even though the
ideas of communism are totally alien to him—it will be useless to expect any serious progress in socialist
construction. We may not be able to achieve it soon, but we must
at all costs achieve a situation in which specialists—as a
separate social stratum, which will persist until we have
reached the highest stage of development of communist society—can enjoy better conditions of life under
socialism than they enjoyed under capitalism insofar as concerns
their material and legal status, comradely collaboration with
the workers and peasants, and in the mental plane, i. e.,
finding satisfaction in their work, realising that it is
socially useful and independent of the sordid interests of the
capitalist class. Nobody will regard a government department as
being tolerably well organised if it does not take systematic
measures to provide for all the needs of the specialists, to
reward the best of them, to safeguard and protect their
interests, etc., and does not secure practical results in
this.

The trade unions must conduct all the activities of the type
indicated (or systematically collaborate in the activities of
all the government departments concerned) not from the point of
view of the interests of the given department, but from the
point of view of the interests of labour and of the economy as a
whole. With regard to the specialists, on the trade unions
devolves the very arduous duty of daily exercising influence on
the broad masses of the working people in order to create proper
relations between them and the specialists. Only such activities
can produce really important practical results.

11. The Trade Unions And Petty-Bourgeois Influence On The
Working Class

Trade unions are really effective only when they unite very
broad strata of the non-Party workers. This must give rise—particularly in a country in which the peasantry
greatly predominates—to relative stability, specifically
among the trade unions, of those political influences that serve
as the superstructure over the remnants of capitalism and over
small production. These influences are petty-bourgeois, i. e.,
Socialist-Revolutionary and Menshevik (the Russian variety of
the parties of the Second and Two-and-a-Half Internationals) on
the one hand, and anarchist on the other. Only among these
trends has any considerable number of people remained who defend
capitalism ideologically and not from selfish class motives, and
continue to believe in the non-class nature of the "democracy",
"equality", and "liberty " in general that they preach.

It is to this socio-economic cause and not to the role of
individual groups, still less of individual persons, that we
must attribute the survivals (sometimes even the revival) in our
country of such petty-bourgeois ideas among the trade unions. The Communist Party, the Soviet bodies that conduct
cultural and educational activities and all Communist members of
trade unions must therefore devote far more attention to the
ideological struggle against petty-bourgeois influences, trends
and deviations among the trade unions, especially because the
New Economic Policy is bound to lead to a certain strengthening
of capitalism. It is urgently necessary to counteract this by
intensifying the struggle against petty-bourgeois influences
upon the working class.

Central Committee
Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)

Endnotes

[1] The role and tasks
of the trade unions under the conditions created by the New
Economic Policy were examined at a Plenary Meeting of the C.C.,
R.C.P.(B.) on December 28, 1921. The draft of the decision on
the trade unions adopted by the C.C., R.C.P.(B.) was written by
Lenin.

The theses of January 12, 1922 were examined by the Political
Bureau of the Central Committee which unanimously approved them
and submitted them without amendments to the Eleventh Party
Congress. They were unanimously passed at that Congress (see
KPSS v rezolyutsiakh i resheniyakh syezdov , konferentsi i plenumov Ts.K. [ C.P.S.U. in Resolutions and Decisions of Congresses , Conferences and C.C. Plenary Meetings ], Part 1, 1954, pp. 603-12)