RESOLUTION OF THE DEFENSE COUNCIL
July 23, 1919

From numerous factories and plants that are working for the Red Army, petitions have been received requesting a temporary suspension of operations—on the grounds that such a measure would enable workers to travel in search of food. To grant these petitions at a moment when the Russian Soviet Republic is engaged in a decisive struggle against its enemies, when every resource must be concentrated on supplying the Red Army and every second of productive labor is crucial to meeting its needs, could well lead to the most perilous consequences.

Yet, on the other hand, it is imperative that those who labor in defense—and who thus form the backbone of the Red Army in its fight—be placed in privileged conditions with regard to food supplies.

Accordingly, the Council of Workers’ and Peasants’ Defense resolves:

1. Workers at factories belonging to the defense sector shall have their leave suspended; in individual cases, the Extraordinary Plenipotentiary of the Defense Council may authorize exceptions to this rule, provided that such decisions are made in consultation with the All‑Russian Council of Trade Unions.

2. Institutions responsible for freight transportation are hereby charged with the duty to ensure that all grain procurements by delegations of workers from defense‑oriented factories are dispatched to the respective plants without delay, and that, for this purpose, the necessary railcars are made available to these delegations on an urgent basis.

3. Local food supply authorities are instructed to prioritize the provision of food to worker organizations at factories engaged in defense work.

4. At those factories and plants working for defense whose leave has been suspended, members of workers’ families shall be granted the right to obtain leave certificates permitting them to depart Moscow and return—provided that the number of travelers and the order of their journeys are determined according to transport capacity, in agreement between the relevant trade union and the People’s Commissariat for Railways. Travelers proceeding under this provision shall enjoy the same rights as other workers traveling under the general leave legislation.

5. It is hereby mandated that strict oversight be maintained to ensure that, in accordance with the tariff regulations of May 2, workers who are denied leave receive the appropriate two‑week compensation based on their tariff wages.