THE APPEARANCE OF THE FACTORY COMMITTEES AND THE FIRST ATTEMPTS
TO UNITE THEM

From the February Revolution until the First Conference of Factory Committees
of the City of Petrograd (March–May 1917)

THE PLACE OF THE FACTORY COMMITTEES IN THE WORKERS’ MOVEMENT

The factory committees were born in the fire of revolution. They were one of the spontaneous [стихийных] forms into which the workers’ movement poured itself from the very moment it was liberated from the barracks oppression of the Tsarist regime during the war. This, along with the Party, was the widest manifestation of revolutionary self-activity of the working masses.

In searching for the historical roots of the factory committees, one can connect them to a certain extent with the former “councils of elders,” or with individual elders “chosen” by workers on the basis of the “Zubatov Constitution” – the Law on Factory Elders from June 10, 1903 – or, more accurately, appointed by the factory owners themselves with the goal of substituting real worker representation with staged worker participation in negotiations with capital on questions of working conditions and wages.¹⁶ However, from the very moment of their emergence, the factory committees were fundamentally different from the old councils of elders. They were elected, freely and without any kind of coercion, by a general assembly of workers of a given enterprise, with no restrictions on the active or passive electoral rights of any of the workers. These were not means of deceiving the workers, nor of covering up and distorting the differences between capital and labor. These were instruments brought forth by the revolution to sharpen the contradictions, to struggle actively with capital on every front. In the factory committees, the germ of future organs of worker control of the factories, of future mass conductors of the nationalization of industry [будущих массовых проводников национализации промышленности], were laid. Here from the very beginning, the seeds of irreconcilable struggle on the economic and political fronts for total victory over capital, for the transition from a capitalist regime to a proletarian dictatorship, were planted.

We can count as a prototype of the factory committees those freely elected councils, delegates of the assembly, committees of authorized representatives, and other similar representative bodies of workers in a given enterprise that spontaneously arose during the 1905 revolution out of temporary strike committees and were transformed, however briefly, into durable bodies that were formalized in some unions (printers, oil workers) and some regions (Baku) through special constitutions that had been wrested from the factory owners through struggle. Among the printers, the so-called autonomous commissions were a complete organization, totally indistinguishable from the factory committees. They oversaw the entire internal life of the enterprise, including the fight against drunkenness, and enjoyed the absolute right to hire and fire, which was included in the collective agreement struck with the factory owners.

At the same time as the factory committees, the trade unions were being restored, in some places having survived underground despite all manner of persecution by Tsarist gendarmes. But from the very first steps, each of these organizations took forms different from one another. While the trade unions were largely restored and built up on the basis of profession and shop, they did not bring all workers into their midst but rather only their most skilled segment, and they set as their main task the struggle for the economic interests of these workers. [In contrast], the factory committees, being formed on the basis of the enterprise, immediately embraced the entire working mass through a general assembly of workers, during which elections took place. They based their organization on the principle of production, first at the enterprise level and then expanding it to the struggle for workers’ control of an entire industry, for the organization and restoration of the war-ravaged national economy, while leaving the general organization of strikes, labor protection, wage scales, and the defense of workers’ professional and economic interests to the trade unions carrying out their directives and tasks in this area (in the early stages, before the formal establishment and development of trade unions, factory committees took significant independent initiative in this matter). 

The factory committees focused on protecting operations, finding and saving raw materials and fuel, receiving funds on time to pay workers, and on preventing factory closures by capitalists sabotaging production.¹⁷ Their main task was to carry out active workers’ control over production and, in part, over exchange (through committees on transport and in trade enterprises).

THE APPEARANCE OF THE FIRST FACTORY COMMITTEES IN PETROGRAD

The external impetus for the creation of the first factory committees at factories owned by the state – the artillery and naval departments [ведомств] – was very simple: the absence of factory managers from their stations on the second day after the February revolution. The managers, rightly fearing the wrath of the workers, disappeared together with other representatives of the Tsarist regime or were forcibly removed. They experienced the anger and distrust of the working masses towards the administration of the tsarist generals, who betrayed the interests of the country at every step and exploited the “militarized” workers¹⁸ that were handed over to them in every possible way.

However, factories and plants could do without managers only during the days of the revolutionary struggle and the national triumph that followed. From the moment work resumed at the factories, the need for a body to manage the enterprise was acutely felt.

It was necessary to supply the enterprises with all the means of production, to pay the workers’ wages, to take care of receiving orders, financial resources, etc. The Provisional Government¹⁹ had only just been formed and had not even managed to cover the heads of the ministries. Likewise with the Soviet of Workers’ Deputies, which was occupied with general issues and not yet sufficiently organized and could not at first put forward their own commissars or representatives to manage the factories. Naturally, the workers, raising acute questions about fuel, raw materials, and wages at general meetings, were forced to put forward their own elected bodies, which, at least temporarily, carried out the task of management.

In a number of private enterprises, factory committees arose in connection with the workers’ presentation of economic demands, whose implementation required an appropriate representative body. Due to the weakness of the trade unions, the factory committees became the first such bodies. They were created following the model of the former councils of elders and from strike committees and bureaus that had arisen in the very first clashes between workers and capitalists over the establishment of an eight-hour working day, wage increases, etc.

At some large enterprises, factory committees were created in the following way: elected delegates from the plant to the Soviet of Workers’ Deputies constituted the first core of the factory committee; they were joined by representatives from the workshops, elected by the workers for communication between the workshops, daily routine work, and defending the interests of the workers in the factory.

Thus, two sides were immediately outlined in the work of the factory committees: political and economic.

On March 5, 1917, at a meeting of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ (SR) and Soldiers’ Deputies (SD), it was declared that “it is possible to begin resuming work in the Petrograd district right away . . . Simultaneously with the resumption of work, the SR and SD call for the immediate creation and strengthening of workers’ organizations of all types, as strongholds for further revolutionary struggle for the complete liquidation of the old regime and for the class ideals of the proletariat in order to consolidate the positions won and achieve further gains.” (Proceedings of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies,  no. 7, March 6 (19), 1917).²⁰

In response to the question, “Is it possible to work calmly and methodically if there is no certainty that capital will be bound by a collective agreement in its relations with the workers?” an editorial in Proceedings of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies replies that in order to control the factory and plant administration and to organize the work properly, it is necessary to restore and develop factory committees immediately, which would vigilantly monitor that the workforce is not squandered indiscriminately. These same committees must be entrusted with the serious task of restoring the normal distribution of work and relations within enterprises (no. 8, March 7 (20), 1917).

This was the signal for the creation of factory committees not only at state-owned but also at private enterprises, following the example of larger state-owned factories. 

Attendees of the Second Petrograd City Conference of Factory Committees (August 7 – 12, 1917)
Source: Oktyabr’skaya Revolyutsia i Fabzavkomy (The October Revolution and the Factory
Committees), Kraus International Publications, 1983.

Attendees of the Third Petrograd City Conference of Factory Committees (September 10, 1917).
Source: Oktyabr’skaya Revolyutsia i Fabzavkomy (The October Revolution and the Factory
Committees), Kraus International Publications, 1983.

Here is a small note from the Proceedings of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies from March 3 (16), 1917:

At the F. San-Galli Factory. A workers’ meeting elected a revolutionary factory committee and a temporary commission for organizing a food distribution station. The Workers’ Committee began establishing contacts with all existing district organizations of other factories. A militia is also being organized, in accordance with the decision of the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Dep[uties]. The workers decided to meet every day at the factory to hear a report on the activities of the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies . . .

This is a typical example of what was done by workers in factories in the first days after the February revolution.

In the Proceedings of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies of March 11 (24), 1917, the following resolution was published, the meaning of which is quite clear in itself:

An agreement was reached between the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Dep[uties] and the Petrograd Society of Manufacturers and Factory Owners on the introduction of an eight-hour working day in factories and plants. 

Eight-hour working day
1–Until a law on regulating the working day is issued, an eight-hour working day will be introduced at all factories and plants in all cases.
2–On Sundays work is carried out for seven hours.
3–The reduction in working hours should not affect workers’ earnings.
4–Overtime work is permitted with the consent of the Factory Committees. 

Factory Committees 
1–Factory Committees will be established at all plants and factories. Committees (Councils of Elders) elected from among the workers of a given enterprise on the basis of universal, equal, etc., suffrage.
2–The task of these committees is: a) to represent the workers of a given enterprise in their relations with government and public institutions; b) to formulate opinions on issues of the socio-economic life of the workers of a given enterprise; c) to resolve issues concerning internal relations between the workers of the enterprise themselves; d) to represent the workers before the administration of factories and plants as well as the owners of enterprises on issues concerning the relations between them and the workers. (We omit Section 111, on conciliation chambers).

This can be said to be the first constitution of factory committees, won by the workers in the very first days of the revolution.

A month later, in the “Proceedings of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies,” No. 33, dated April 6 (19), 1917, in a note entitled “The Situation at the Factories,” we find excerpts from the minutes of a meeting of the sub-district committee of the Malaya Okhta factories and members of the Soviet of Workers and Soldiers, who gathered together with representatives of the 1st reserve regiment in connection with an attempt by reactionary forces to sow discord between workers and soldiers. From the reports of the representatives of the factories, we get the following picture of the work of the factory committees:

1–Benoit Plant. The plant committee is taking all measures to increase the plant’s productivity. Control with the owner’s consent has been chosen for the purposes of the most expedient organization of the enterprise, and as a result, the plant’s productivity has noticeably increased.
It has been decided to work on Friday of Holy Week and to deduct all earnings for the benefit of the soldiers in the trenches.

2–Lunoza Plant. One-day earnings are also deducted for the trenches. The work is proceeding normally, and if there may be delays, then they are only due to the lack of materials and the fault of the administration.

3–Russian-American Plant and Shipbuilding “Okhta.” The other day, there was a delegation from the “Pulemet” plant, which stated that due to the failure to deliver lead wire from the Russian-American Plant, the “Pulemet” plant is in danger of suspension of operations. It turned out that the administration was to blame for everything, deliberately delaying the execution of an unprofitable order and fulfilling other free orders. The plant committee decided to put pressure on the administration to immediately begin producing wire daily in the amount of 80 poods needed by the “Pulemet” plant.
It was decided to deduct one day’s wages in favor of the trenches.

4–The Naval Artillery Department Plant, formerly “Creighton.” The plant produced three-inch shells, but according to the department’s statement, even before the revolution, the production of small shells had been discontinued, and it was proposed to produce six- and nine-inch shells, to which the plant was not adapted; on the other hand, the lack of fuel and many materials led to the fact that at present it was necessary to reduce the number of workers and make one shift from two with almost half the output of shells per month, while it would have been possible to significantly increase the output. The workers were transferred from piece to workshop pay, as much as three rubles per day. Three hundred workers went to the village for field work.
The factory committee decided to use all means at its disposal to eliminate the economic causes (lack of materials, fuel, etc.) that were slowing down the factory’s work. A congress of delegates from all factories belonging to the naval department was formed and decided to allocate a control committee to oversee the organization of production; a committee was also formed to develop a minimum wage and increase rates for work in proportion to the increase in prices for essential products. Conciliation chambers were created [Создаются примирительные камеры].²¹ The workers were organized into a union, a club was created, etc. It was decided to allocate one day’s earnings for gifts to the soldiers. A delegate was chosen. […]

5–Compass workshop. Productivity is normal, increased by overtime work. It was decided to investigate the behavior of the representative in the S.R. and S.D.; assigned to comrade Nikolaev.

6–Yagkeim Plant. Most of the workers have been dismissed. The reason is poor technical equipment and financial difficulties. The behavior of the administration is strange and inconsistent: the plant is being transferred to the small industry committee. Economic demands were postponed until the Soviet of S. and R. D. gives its permission.
At the other small plants and workshops, work is proceeding normally. Everywhere it was decided to deduct one day’s wages in favor of the comrade soldiers suffering in the trenches.

From the brief data presented here it is evident, on the one hand, that the factory committees are becoming more and more involved in production work, entering into certain relations with the administration and exerting “pressure” on it, “using all the means at their disposal,” etc. On the other hand, the factory committees are energetically acting against the discord between workers and soldiers stirred up by counter-revolutionaries. Mention is also made of a congress of delegates from all factories belonging to the naval department, which apparently took place in the second half of March (more detailed information about this congress has not yet been found).

The “Instructions of the Control and Economic Commission of the Council of Elders at the Petrograd Metal Plant” dated March 31 (April 13), 1917, found in the archives of the Central Soviet of Factory and Plant Committees of Petrograd, pertains to the end of March. In addition to several familiar points, we find here the formulations of the main control tasks assigned by the Council of Elders to this commission. The first point of the instruction states:

The Control and Economic Commission at the Petrograd Metal Plant is being established in accordance with the resolution of the Soviet of Workers and Soldiers’ Deputies to control the production of defense items at the plant.

The Control and Economic Commission shall be responsible for: monitoring the timely delivery of necessary materials, fuel, lubricants, etc., to the plant’s workshops and for the production of defense items; monitoring the timely dispatch of manufactured items to their destination.

In view of the success of its management, the Commission shall be granted the right to: enter into communications, both written and oral, with the plant administration and the relevant employees; demand the presentation for inspection of books and documents related to the production of defense items and their dispatch; conduct investigations both at the request of workers and employees and on its own initiative; decide upon all disputes and misunderstandings not resolved by agreement. The Commission shall be granted the right to submit to the general meeting of elders for consideration.

In emergency cases, in the absence of appropriate orders from the plant administration, the Commission will issue its own, bringing them to the attention of the Council of Elders. In emergency cases or particularly important ones, the Commission’s activities will extend beyond the plant.

(At the end of the instruction there is a note written by hand: “the manager did not sign, because it does not come from the center”). This instruction gives some idea of ​​what tasks the factory committees set for themselves already in this period.

ATTEMPTS BY THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT AND THE LABOR DEPARTMENT TO LIMIT BY LAW THE ROLE OF FACTORY COMMITTEES

Petrograd Soviet–First Official Constitution of Factory Committees

Realizing the impossibility of introducing any kind of measure to suspend or even forbid the organization of factory committees amid the fire of the revolution, the Provisional Government – [Georgy] Lvov, [Aleksandr] Guchkov, [Pavel] Milyukov²² – as the representative of the interests of big capital could not help but take measures to limit the scope of the activities of factory committees.

Back in March (based on the report from Comrade Zof) a meeting took place at the Main Artillery Directorate, in which the following people took part: the heads of the naval and artillery departments, representatives of the Military-Industrial Committee Professor Zernov and Professor Bernatsky, from the Ministry of Labor,  [Kuzma] Gvozdev, etc., on the other side were representatives of the factory committees. At this meeting, the issues that were discussed pertained to the relations  between the factory committees and the administration, about organization of production, and remuneration for labor. The meeting was quite heated, pushing the worker faction to create its own association to counter the administration – the Bureau of Factory Committees of the Artillery Factories Department [Бюро фабзавкомов заводов артеллирийского ведомства]. The Secretary of this Bureau was Comrade K. N. Samoylova.

In the early days of March, the Petrograd Association of Factory Owners signed an agreement with the Soviet of Workers’ Deputies […] behind which an attempt to “limit” the role of the factory committees is clearly hidden. The agreement was concluded with the Executive Committee of the Soviet, where conciliatory elements already predominated at that time.

In issue no. 10 of Edinstvo [Unity] newspaper, dated April 11 (24), 1917, we find the following note:

Factory Committees. On April 9, under the chairmanship of M.V. Bernatsky, a meeting was held by the Commission of Labor Department of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, tasked with drafting regulations on factory committees. During this meeting, the commission reviewed and approved the first reading of a draft law proposed by Professor V.V. Leontiev concerning factory committees and conciliation commissions at individual industrial enterprises.

Theses of the draft law can be summarized in the following points:

§ 1. For all industrial and construction and other enterprises, a provision is introduced for the establishment of factory committees and conciliation commissions.

§ 2. Committees are established according to the wishes of no less than one-third of all workers of the enterprise or upon the proposal of the enterprise management.

§ 3. The committee consists of a number of workers elected on the basis of universal, equal, direct and secret ballot without distinction of sex. 

§ 4. Independent committees may be established for individual departments of the enterprise.

§ 5. A list of electees is submitted by workers for the records of the enterprise’s management.

§ 6. The rules for the committee are established by the workers themselves.

§ 7. The provisions defining the relationship between the committee and the enterprise management are discussed in a joint session of the former (the committee) and representatives of the enterprise, and must be approved by both parties.

§ 8. The main tasks of the factory committees are as follows: a) representation of workers before Enterprise management regarding issues related to their relations, that is: wages, working hours, internal regulations, etc. b) resolution of matters concerning internal relations among workers within the enterprise; c) representation of the workers of the enterprise or its departments in their interactions with governmental and public institutions.

The attempt to limit the functions and rights of factory committees is completely apparent here; it is especially evident from the last point of the above theses. 

The result of this effort by the Labor Department of the Ministry of Trade and Industry was the publication of a decree²³ of the Provisional Government on workers’ committees in industrial establishments, dated April 23 (May 6), 1917, which we cite in full, due to its exceptional significance:

RESOLUTION OF THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT ON WORKERS’ COMMITTEES IN INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTS²⁴

The Provisional Government has decided:
To amend and supplement the relevant laws to approve the following regulation on workers’ committees in industrial establishments:

1–Workers’ committees are established in both private and state-owned industrial establishments of all types (factory, mining, mining-industrial, construction industry, etc.) in compliance with the rules outlined in the following articles of this regulation.

2–Factory committees may be established for the entire establishment as well as for its separate workshops, departments, industries, production facilities, etc. Individual committees may unite into a main committee, in accordance with the rules established by the instruction. 
Committees are established by either the proposal of the one-third of the total number of workers on whom the election of committee members depends, or upon the proposal of the administration of the establishment. 

3–The committee consists of members elected by the workers of the establishment on the basis of a universal, direct and secret vote not excluding women and the underaged.

4–For the validity of the elections, the participation of no less than half of all workers of the whole enterprise or of a particular workshop, department, industry, production facility, etc. is required.

5–The list of committee members is to be communicated to the administration of the industrial establishment for recordkeeping.

6–Committee members may be dismissed by the administration of the establishment only by the decision of the conciliation bodies [примирительных учреждений]. Their removal prior to such a decision by the conciliation body can take place only with the agreement of the committee. In the absence of permanent conciliation bodies, the issue is resolved through arbitration proceedings [путем третейского разбирательства].

7–The Workers’ Committee develops the instruction that establishes the composition, scope of activities and procedure of the committee. The instruction provides, in particular: a) The number of elected representatives by the workshops, departments, industries, production facilities, etc., or from the entire industrial establishment; b) The procedure for electing elected representatives and their deputies (method, place and time of casting votes); c) the term of office of elected representatives and their deputies; d) the procedure for the recalling of individual or all elected representatives before the expiration of their term of office; e) the procedure for electing the chairman and other members of the presidium of the committee; f) the relationship between individual committees, if any, and between individual committees and the main committee of the industrial establishment; g) the procedure for communications/interactions [сношений] between the committee and the administration of the establishment; h) the conditions and procedure for releasing elected officials from work during the performance of their duties; i) the basic rights and duties of the elected and other provisions that prove necessary under local conditions.
The instruction developed by the committee is subject to the approval by the general assembly of workers and, upon approval, is posted in the work premises. 
Note: When electing the first workers’ committee, the number of committee members, the procedure for their election and terms of office are determined by a general meeting of workers of the entire establishment or its respective workshop, department, trade, production unit, etc., according to their affiliation.

8–Resolutions and instructions defining the relationship between the committee and the establishment administration, particularly the order of interactions between the committee and the administration, the conditions and procedures for releasing elected representatives from work for the duration of their duties the place and time of elections, are first discussed at a joint session of the committee and representatives of the enterprise administration and established by mutual agreement between both parties. 

9–The subjects under the jurisdiction of workers’ committees include: a) representation of workers before the administration of the establishment on issues concerning internal relations between entrepreneurs [предпринимателями] and workers, that is: wages, working time, internal workplace regulations, etc.; b) resolution of issues concerning internal relationships between establishments’ workers; c) representation of workers in their interaction with government and public institutions; d) concern for cultural-educational activities among the establishment’s workers and about other activities aimed at the improvement of their byt.²⁵

10–Individual workers do not lose the right to speak in cases specified in Art. 9 (paragraphs, and “a” and “b”) personally, each for himself, without resorting to the committee.

11–The committee informs the workers about the results of elections, about its activity, the upcoming meetings, etc. by way of announcements posted in work premises.

12–The committee has the right to convene workers’ meetings. The administration of the establishment is obliged to allocate available premises or spaces for meetings called by the committee.

13–With permission of the committee or the chairperson of the meeting, individuals who are not employees of the establishment (such as representatives of trade unions, other workers’ committees, and other knowledgeable persons) may also attend meetings.

14–Meetings convened by the committee occur, as a general rule, during non-working hours.

15–Employees [Служащие]²⁶ of an industrial establishment may either establish independent committees in accordance with the rules established in this resolution or by agreement with the workers on the same basis.

16–All disputes arising between the administration of the establishment and the workers and employees regarding the application of this resolution, at the request of either of the parties, are transferred to the conciliation institutions for consideration.

17–Articles 202-210 of the Industrial Labor Charter (Code of Laws, Vol. 11, Part 2, 1913 edition), as well as published decrees and orders towards the development of these articles, shall be repealed. 

Minister Chairman: Prince Lvov
Minister of Trade and Industry Konovalov
Manager of the Provisional Government, Vlad[imir] Nabokov
April 23, 1917²⁷

The very fact that the Provisional Government issued such a resolution indicates that, despite its hostility toward these workers’ bodies, the Provisional Government could not help but legitimize them, for although they were created without prior arrangement, they relied on what is called the “law of the revolution.” However, this formalization was used to the maximum extent in order to limit, as much as possible, the rights of these bodies. There is no doubt that Petrograd Society of Manufacturers and Factory Owners, and industrial circles in general, exerted the strongest pressure on the development of this resolution, sufficiently influencing the activities of the Provisional Government and directly participating in the development of the Law of April 23. At the same time, the Labor Department of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers and Soldiers is engaged in the same task, placing in No. 63 of “Bulletin of Petrograd Soviet Workers and Soldiers Deputies,” dated May 11, 1917, the following charter of the factory committee, which is, apparently, only a draft, since we do not find further indications of any legalization of this charter draft. In its nature, this charter is comparable to the decree of April 23 and also tries to limit the revolutionary rights of the factory committees. It is possible that it was put forward by the Labor Department of the Petrograd Soviet to the Committee of Professor Bernatsky but did not find full approval. We cite it as material related to the first attempts to formalize the factory committees.

CHARTER OF THE FACTORY WORKERS’ COMMITTEE

The Labor Department developed the following charter of factory committees which it proposes to adopt in factories and plants. 

§ 1. The plant (factory) workers. . …..
Choose from among themselves. . . . . . . . elected representatives and their deputies.

§ 2. All workers of the enterprise can participate in the elections and may be elected, without distinction of sex and age. Elections are held on the basis of equal, direct and secret voting.

§ 3. Elections are conducted among the workers of the entire enterprise without dividing them into categories [разряды].

§ 4. The elections are conducted at the general meeting of the workers of the enterprise (or: at the general meetings of workers by categories). The election protocol is signed by the chairman and secretary of the meeting and by three voters present in the meeting. Elections are conducted according to categories. The division of workers of the enterprise into categories is carried out by the workers’ committee (in the case of the first election – by the organizing working commission). 
Elections are conducted using ballot boxes. A supervisory workers’ commission is formed to monitor the legitimacy of the election and to count the votes cast, in which all the groups competing in the elections should be presented. The election protocol is signed by all members of the commission. At the same time, members of the commission are entitled to record their opinions regarding the issue of legitimacy of the election in the protocol.
The persons who have received the largest number of votes are elected. 
An announcement of the election results, indicating the number of votes received by each candidate, is posted prominently within the workplace by the workers’ committee (or: the overseeing working committee).

§ 5. For the validity of the elections, participation of no less than half of the total number of workers of the enterprise (or: category) is required.
Note: If the elections did not take place, the enterprise (or: category) remains without elected representatives, new elections can take place at any time at the request of one tenth of the total of workers of the enterprise (or: category).

§ 6. The elected and their deputies retain their powers during the duration of one year (or: six months) from the date of the election.
The elected and their deputies can be recalled at any time by the voters: upon a request signed by one fifth of the total of workers of the enterprise (or: category), the workers’ committee is obliged to hold a general assembly of the workers of the enterprise (or: category) to discuss the issues of recalling the elected representatives and the election of new representatives within one  week.

§ 7. The elected representatives from the entire enterprise are to form a workers’ committee, which elects its own presidium and determines the rights and duties of the presidium and its individual members. 

§ 8. The workers’ committee communicates with the management of the enterprise through its presidium. Those elected from worker classifications [Выборным от разрядов] are permitted to communicate directly with the enterprise management on matters exclusively concerning the workers and their respective categories.

§ 9. To exempt an elected representative from work for the duration of his committee duties, it is sufficient for the representative to submit a statement to the nearest member of the enterprise administration.

§ 10. The tasks of workers’ committees are:
a) the representation of workers before enterprise management on issues regarding the relationship between the enterprise and the workers, for example: wages, about working time, internal workplace regulations, etc.;
b) resolution of issues related to internal relations between workers of the enterprise;
c) representation of workers in their relations with government and public institutions;
d) concern for cultural-educational activities among the enterprise’s workers and about other activities aimed at the improvement of their byt;
e) participation in the development of internal regulations and in the supervision of their compliance, participation in the supervision of the sanitary condition of the enterprise and for the implementation of labor safety measures, participation in the management of enterprise-adjacent [имеющихся при предприятии] hospitals, shelters for children, schools, etc.
f) participation in the compilation of lists of persons at the enterprise who are granted deferment from military service [отсрочкой по отбыванию воинской повинности] and monitoring compliance by the enterprise with the rules governing such deferments.

§ 11. The committee informs the workers about its activities, about the upcoming meetings and elections, etc. by way of announcements posted in working premises.

§ 12. The committee convenes meetings of the worker types or the entire enterprise. The management of the establishment is obliged to allocate available premises or spaces for meetings called by the committee. For the validity of the decisions of the assembly, at least one third of the workers of the enterprise or at least half of the workers of a category must be present. If the meeting convened by the committee does not take place due to the insufficient number of workers attendees, the committee convenes a second meeting, valid irrespective of the number of participants.
At the request of one fifth workers of the enterprise (or: category), the committee is obliged to convene a general meeting of workers of the enterprise (or: category) within one week.
The voting procedure at the meeting is determined by the meeting itself.
The meeting elects a chairperson and secretary of the meeting.
With the permission of the committee or the chairman of the meeting, individuals who are not employees of the enterprise (representatives of trade unions, other workers’ committees, and other knowledgeable persons) may also attend meetings in an advisory capacity.

§ 13. The employees [служащие]of the enterprise can participate in the election of the working committee, with an agreement with the workers’ committee, with or without their allocation into a special category.

§ 14. All disputes arising between the management of the enterprise and the workers regarding the application of this charter, at the request of either of the parties, are transferred to the conciliation institutions for consideration.

§ 15. This charter can be changed by the workers’ committee with the approval of the general meeting.

THE FIRST ATTEMPTS AT INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATION AND UNIFICATION OF THE FACTORY COMMITTEES

However, at the same time, the workers themselves were striving in every way to create a revolutionary constitution for the new workers’ bodies – the factory committees. The workers understood perfectly well that, if they remained disunited and unorganized, the factory committees would sooner or later be removed from any participation in the life of the plants and factories (attempts to do so had already been seen since April, both by the owners of the factories and plants, and by the commissars sent by the Provisional Government to the naval, artillery, and other state-owned factories). On the other hand, it was necessary to create unifying centers to more closely link the work of the factory committees with the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies and with the trade unions, and to give a common, expedient direction to their work. The very nature of their activities also pushed the factory committees in that direction. The search for funds, fuel, raw materials, the receipt of orders, etc., required the coordination of these issues in a number of similar enterprises, the coordination of the interests of various enterprises among themselves, and the receipt of the necessary financial and production resources from the defense conference, the fuel conference, the metal conference, the flax-hemp-jute committee, the leather committee, and other bodies of the Provisional Government, as well as for communication with banks.

We have already made indirect reference to the congress of delegates from all factories belonging to the naval department (see the message from the ruins of the former “Creighton” plant above), which took place in March. This congress [of all delegates belonging to the naval department], or rather, a conference of delegates, was preceded by a meeting of representatives of workers of the factories of the artillery and naval departments, which took place in the first half of March 1917. About 15 people were present at this small meeting. Here it was decided to unite the state factories of the artillery and naval departments in Petrograd, Kronstadt, and other environs of the capital through factory committees. Forms of control over production and over the actions of the administration of the factories were also outlined (reported from the words of Comrade Zof).

The conference itself took place in March (the exact date is unknown) and was convened by the conciliatory parties, apparently with the aim of exerting their influence on the developing forms of the workers’ movement – the factory committees. Almost simultaneously with this conference, on March 13 (26), a conference of the largest factories, the artillery department, was convened, organized by the Bolsheviks and groups associated with them, a more or less detailed report of which we find in the appeal signed by members of the Organizational Bureau, printed in the “Worker’s Gazette” on May 6, 1917, in No. 79. Both the congress of naval factories and the conference, apparently, covered only the factories of Petrograd and its environs. We present the said appeal in full.

CONFERENCE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF ARTILLERY DEPARTMENT FACTORIES

Revolution not only breaks the old order, not only destroys obsolete, outlived forms of life, but also creates new forms of life and organization. Like mushrooms after a blessed [благодатного] rain, under the life-giving rays of the sun of freedom, these organizations grow especially quickly among the creators of the revolution – the working class and the revolutionary army.

Every day, here and there, Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies are springing up, spreading like a network throughout Russia, trade unions and educational societies are being created among workers, factories, and district committees.

The creative forces of the broad masses of the people, long squeezed in the vice of autocratic despotism, are breaking through and are rushing to take shape in organizational forms, often new and completely unique [совершенно своеобразные].

One of the unique forms of workers’ organization that arose during the revolution is the conference of all factories of the artillery department. The history of the emergence and development of this conference is very interesting and represents perhaps the first experience of management of factories by the workers themselves.

At the peak of the Great Russian Revolution, at some factories – for example, at the Cartridge and Sestroretsk arms plants – the administration fled the factories in panic and did not appear there for several days, such that for all intents and purposes the entire management of the factories and production ended up in the hands of the workers themselves. The workers did not lose their heads and, using the factory committees that existed among them, decided to immediately create their own independent administration to manage the entire life of the factories and all production.

In response to this display of workers’ initiative, the Main Artillery Administration told the workers that it was refusing them any allocations and received in response that in that case the workers would not give up a single rifle cartridge. In short, as they say, the scythe met the stone [нашла коса на камень]. On March 13, workers from the largest factories of the artillery department [. . .] convened the first meeting of representatives from all these factories, where questions were raised about organizing the management of the factories and about standardizing payment for the days of the February strike. Representatives of the Cartridge factory pointed out at this meeting the necessity of organizing self-government at the factories according to broad democratic principles.

The Main Artillery Directorate was at a loss seeing the manifestation of this workers’ initiative and, wishing to somehow settle the conflict that had arisen, called its own meeting, which was attended by representatives of the Society of Factory Owners and Manufacturers, all the heads of factories, representatives of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, as well as representatives of the Union of Engineers. In addition, two representatives from the Executive Committee of the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies were present at this meeting, and workers from all the factories of the artillery department were also invited. The workers’ representatives demanded first that the Main Artillery Directorate not interfere with the introduction of an eight-hour workday at state factories, that is, they put forward a demand that has always been a revolutionary slogan of the international proletariat.

Finding itself face to face with the organized force of the workers, the Main Artillery Directorate did not object to the introduction of an eight-hour workday, just as it did not object to the proposal of the factory delegates to pay all workers for the days of the February strike. 

The workers’ representatives also demanded that the Artillery Directorate recognize all workers’ organizations, as well as the unifying center that arose during the revolution – the conference of representatives of the 12 largest factories of the artillery department. The Main Directorate not only recognized the workers’ conference, but also assumed all expenses for renting premises for this conference, all office and other expenses.

Thus the onslaught of the revolutionary proletariat broke those age-old fetters which had always bound the workers of the state factories of the military department – with their military superiors and military discipline – especially tightly. The conference of representatives of the workers of the Artillery Department began to function as a permanent organization, as a unifying center for the workers. This was an important achievement of the Petrograd proletariat, especially if we take into account that this conference embraced about 100,000 workers of the state factories. At the same time, the workers of all the factories that were part of the conference organized their own police force to protect order at the factories. Later, this conference of workers adopted a resolution on the participation of delegates of the state factories in the All-Russian Congress on Insurance, as well as on the extension of the insurance law to all state factories. One of the important practical steps of this conference of workers was the development and establishment of minimum wage standards, which was especially important for workers at the time, in view of the ever-increasing cost of living. 

On a very important issue for workers – the management of state-owned factories – the conference adopted a plan for organizing factories, which was based on the principle of complete democracy and collegiality. That plan is expressed in the following resolution:

1–Until the moment arrives of complete socialization of the entire public economy, state and private, the workers do not assume responsibility for the technical and administrative economic organization of production and refuse to participate in the organization of production.

2–In the matter of the relationship between labor and capital, both state and private, and in the matter of the internal order of the factories, the workers form a democratic organization with elected committees from the entire factory and from individual workshops for the purpose of protecting the interests of labor before the factory administration and controlling its activities.

3–The workers, through their factory representatives, have the right to remove those members of the administration who cannot guarantee normal relations with the workers, without entering into an assessment of the technical and administrative abilities of the former.

4–In order to develop, on the aforementioned principles, a detailed charter for the elective factory representative body and regulations for the internal order of the factories, the conference shall elect a commission, which in the shortest possible time must develop a detailed draft and submit it to the conference of factory representatives of the artillery department. This commission shall have the right to invite knowledgeable persons to join its membership.

In this resolution, each point is the fruit of considered reasoning, the result of the independent creative initiative of the workers. It is clear that the ruin of all economic life that had arisen under the old, autocratic regime, the disorganization of transport, and as a result the shortage of materials for production, prompted the workers to absolve themselves of responsibility for the technical and economic organization of production. But on the other hand, everything that concerns the relations between labor and capital, the entire defense of labor’s interests before the factory administration and control over its activities was entirely assumed by the workers’ conference. An important point of this resolution is the right to remove those officials of the administration who “cannot guarantee normal relations with the workers.” This is the very right that workers have always fought for—and for which, not so long ago, many paid dearly, when, for removing some universally despised foreman or “whip,” the administration would mercilessly throw the workers out of the factory gates.

The immediate task of this newly formed workers’ conference was to attract to its ranks representatives of all government factories of all departments: the navy, the quartermaster’s office, the Red Cross, etc.

The workers’ conference therefore makes an ardent appeal to all comrade workers of government factories to support it by all available means, by their personal participation in its work and, through their representatives, by delivering to it materials on the situation of workers in government factories and their working conditions – to illuminate this issue in the workers’ press, by submitting to the conference for consideration all the most pressing questions from the life of workers in government factories. Let all workers of state-owned factories unite around this conference as a unifying center to protect their vital interests.

Remember, comrades, that now more than ever we need unity and organization, and that now, as always, our strength lies only in organization.

Members of the Organizational Bureau: F. Yevseyev, P. Voronkov, V. Zof, S. Tumovsky, G. Levkin



On the initiative of the Organizational Bureau of Artillery Factories, a broader conference of state factories and enterprises was convened in mid-April, about which we have the following information.

In the “Proceedings of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers and Soldiers’ Deputies” (No. 57 of 4/V-1917), we find a resolution concerning the work of soldiers attached [прикомандированных] to a number of state enterprises and the conditions of their payment, which was adopted by the conference of workers-representatives of state enterprises of Petrograd on April 20, 1917. From this resolution it is evident that in mid-April there was a “conference of representatives of workers of state enterprises and factories of artillery, naval, postal and financial departments, as well as the quartermaster’s office and communications.” Further from the same resolution it is clear that the conference gives instructions “to its Organizational Bureau.”

That conference adopted the following draft instruction for the organization of workers of state enterprises, dated April 15, 1917, which to a certain extent represents a prototype of the future charter of factory committees. The draft of this instruction in its original form was discussed and adopted at the conference of representatives of workers of state enterprises and institutions of all departments on March 14, 1917. We offer this document in full.

Draft instructions for organizing workers of state enterprises
When organizing factory workers in state enterprises, those fundamental democratic principles must be implemented that, since the February–March strike and the revolution of 1917, have become the property of the entire Russian proletariat.

Fundamental principles of factory organization
1–The principle of collective management and broad democracy – that is, the election and replaceability of all members of the factory organization – must be the basis of the organization of factory workers in all state industries and factories. Collective management is expressed in the fact that the entire life of the factory is directed and managed by boards of representatives from the workers, including the general factory committees, committees of representatives from the factories, etc. The electoral principle is realized in the way that all boards of the factory organization are composed of representatives elected by the workers themselves.

2–The Factorywide Assembly of all workers of a given plant elects its representatives to the Factorywide Committee by direct, equal, and secret ballot.

3–The Factorywide Committee, in turn, sends its elected representatives to the Main Committee of Representatives of all state enterprises and plants.

4–In the largest plants, in light of a need that has arisen, separate committees may be organized for workshops from representatives of all shifts, which are elected by all workers of a given workshop according to the norm established by the Factorywide Assembly of the entire plant in addition to the Factorywide Committee.

Functions of the workshop committees
1–Each individual workshop committee monitors the internal order in that workshop. In particular, it resolves all issues and conflicts both between the workers and the administration, and between the workers themselves, in a given workshop. If the conflict is not resolved on the spot, the workshop committee transfers it to the General Works Committee for consideration.
Note. Each member of the factory organization, in the event of a conflict or misunderstanding with the administration or with any of the workers, must make a corresponding statement about this orally or in writing to his elected representative: if the issue is not resolved on the spot, then depending on its content, it is transferred either to the Factorywide Committee or to the conciliation chamber.

2–All negotiations with the plant administration are conducted by representatives of the Factorywide Committee. Negotiations concerning individual workshops are conducted by representatives of the Factorywide Committee together with a representative of the workshop in question.

3–The Workshop Committee formulates the economic demands of its workshop and submits them to the Factorywide Committee for consideration.

4–The Committee for each workshop strictly monitors that payment for labor is made at the established minimum, and piecework wages at the established rate.

5–The Workshop Committee, together with the administration of a given workshop, distributes work according to category. The development and establishment of rates for new work is carried out by the Rates Commission under the Factorywide Committee.

6–The Workshop Committees implement all decisions of the Factorywide Committee.

The Factorywide Committee, Its composition and Functions
1–The Factorywide Committee consists of representatives of the entire plant, elected by direct, equal and secret ballot in proportion to the number of workers at the given plant, according to the following calculation:

From 500 to 1,000 workers 9 – 11 are chosen.
From 1,000 to 3,000 workers 11 – 13 are chosen.
From 3,000 to 6,000 workers 13 – 15 are chosen.
From 6,000 t0 10,000 workers 15 – 20 are chosen. 
If there are more than 10,000 workers 20 – 25 are chosen.

Note. In all large-scale plants with a large number of workers, the General Assembly is granted the right to elect a larger number of workers to the Factorywide Committee according to the norm established by the General Assembly of the given plant.

2–As an organization standing at the head of each plant, the Factorywide Committee monitors all internal regulations at the plant (it manages the social life of all workers of the given plant and implements all decisions of the general meeting that elected it).

3–The Factorywide Committee must report on its activities to the General Assembly, which is convened as necessary, but not less than once a month.

4–The General Assembly is convened either by the Factorywide Committee or may be convened by the workers of the plant themselves, provided that at least a third of all the workers of the plant vote to convene the Assembly.
Note. In the case of an eight-hour working day, general meetings must be convened after the end of work at the plant. In the event of an exceptional emergency, the Factorywide Committee has the right to convene an Assembly at any time.

5–All orders concerning internal regulations (such as the standardization of working hours and wages, hiring, firing workers and employees, vacations, etc.) must come from the Factorywide Committee with notification of the plant manager or department heads.
Note. All administrative persons, such as the plant manager, department and workshop heads, all technical class ranks and all other administrative persons are accepted with the consent of the Factorywide Committee, which is obliged to declare their acceptance either at a General Assembly of the entire plant or through workshop committees. The Factorywide Committee has the right to remove those persons from the administration who cannot guarantee normal relations with workers.

6–The Factorywide Committee is at the same time the body that controls the activities of the plant management in the terms of administrative, economic and technical matters.

7–In order to carry out this preliminary oversight [предварительного контроля], the Factorywide Committee shall appoint from among itself representatives to the administrative body of the plant management, the economic and technical committees, as well as to all departments of the plant, and the representative of the Factorywide Committee must be presented with all official documents of the plant management, all estimates of production and expenses, as well as all incoming and outgoing papers for review.

8–All circulars and official documents received by the plant management concerning a given plant, wherever they originate from (the Main Artillery Directorate, the military department, etc.), are to be distributed within the plant only after preliminary review of them by the Factorywide Committee and signed by the chairman of the Committee or one of its members.

9–All members of the Factorywide Committee are elected for one year, with the General Assembly having the right to recall them in the event of their failure to fulfill their duties.

10–Representatives elected by the workers do not receive any additional compensation for their public work in addition to the usual average salary.

11–If necessary, representatives of the workers must be released from work at the plant to fulfill their public duties.

12–For the purpose of a more productive distribution of work, the Factorywide Committee selects representatives from among itself to the conciliation chamber and organizes commissions such as: a commission for hiring and firing workers, food, cultural and educational, and others, which report on their activities to the Committee. The Factorywide Committee also organizes a Pay Rates Commission to develop rates of pay for all types of work, and this commission has the right to invite representatives from the workshop or profession to discuss this issue.

13–In the largest factories, or in view of the need that has arisen, along with the Pay Rates Commission under the Factorywide Committee, pay rate-setting commissions are also organized for individual workshops, and all the prices they develop, in view of their uniformity for the entire factory, must be submitted to the Rates Commission under the Factorywide Committee and implemented only after its approval.

In view of the absence of funds for sick leave in state enterprises and factories, and the complete lack of organization of insurance in all state enterprises, the Factorywide Committee will organize an insurance commission in charge of issues of pensions, benefits, compensation for illness, injury, etc.

The Central Committee of Representatives of Factorywide Committees of State Enterprises and Plants
1–All Factorywide Committees from state enterprises and plants elect three representatives to the Central Committee, which, as a center uniting representatives of all Factorywide Committees, directs the life of all state enterprises and plants and manages the activities of the administration of state enterprises and plants.

2–The Central Committee meets regularly – at least once a month – and for day-to-day work it selects from among its members an Organizational Bureau of nine members, which reports on its activities.

3–The Central Committee reports on its activities to the Factorywide Committees that elected it, and the representative of each individual plant reports to the general meeting of its plant.

4–The Central Committee has the right to convene a general meeting of all Factorywide Committees.

After discussion and appropriate amendments, these draft instructions were adopted by the Conference of Representatives of Workers of State Enterprises and Factories on April 15, 1917.

Chairman of the Bureau of the Main Committee Voronkov
Deputy Chairman of the Bureau F. Yevseyev

Below we present an excerpt from the minutes of the conference of representatives of workers of state enterprises and factories from May 2, 1917, which was preserved in full in the materials of Comrade Amosov.

1–On the question of whether clerks and employees of the artillery department have the right to have their own representative in the conference of state enterprises and factories, the following resolution was passed: the conference consists only of representatives from factory committees and does not include in its composition individual representatives of trade unions or corporations of employees, whose representatives are everywhere included in factory committees and are therefore already represented at the conference.

2–In order to implement all resolutions of the conference and to have them approved by the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, the conference resolved: to instruct its Organizational Bureau to enter into contact and close communication with the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies through its Executive Committee, to transmit to it all instructions, resolutions and projects adopted by the conference for their approval by the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies. In addition, it was resolved: to seek the introduction of a representative from the conference of state enterprises into the Executive Committee, first with an advisory vote, and upon his approval, with a deciding vote.

3–On the question of the administration removed from the factories during the revolution by a workers’ resolution, it was decided by a majority of votes not to put all administrative persons through conciliation chambers, but to consider them dismissed by revolutionary challenge by a resolution of the general workers’ assemblies, and to consider it inadmissible to issue them wages from the time of their removal from the factories. The wages issued to them before the adoption of this resolution, i.e. before May 2, are to be considered to have been issued illegally. It was decided to immediately bring this resolution to the attention of the Executive Committee of the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies.

4–On the issue of paying workers for the Day of the Funeral, March 23,²⁸ the conference decided: in factories where workers have not yet received wages for March 23, this payment is not to be demanded. In those enterprises where workers receive a monthly salary and where they were paid for March 23 as for all days of the revolution, there is no return of money.

5–On the issue of the standard at which workers should be paid for downtime due to technical issues or shortage of materials, the conference decided that payment for this time should be made in the amount of the minimum wage.

6–On the issue of paying workers for time off due to illness, two opinions were expressed at the conference: 15 people voted to pay the minimum wage; 16 people voted to pay workers equally for days of illness (regardless of the amount of wages). In view of the complexity of this issue, the conference decided: to postpone the final decision until next time, after having discussed this issue in advance at the factories.

7–At the suggestion of a representative of the Okhtensky plant, Comrade Ilyin, it was decided: all state enterprises and plants are to make monthly deductions of 10 rubles from every thousand people (in plants with less than a thousand people, also 10 rubles) to the fund of the conference of state enterprises and plants for printing and sending out instructions, resolutions and other materials of the conference.

8–On the issue of how to deal with workers who show up late for work, the conference spoke, in principle, in favor of abolishing fines for lateness, but decided to transfer detailed discussion of this issue to the factory committees.

9–On the question of searches [обысках] at factories, after lengthy debate, it was decided to intensify oral and written agitation at all factories explaining the inadmissibility of workers stealing materials, tools, etc. On this question, the conference of representatives of workers of state enterprises and factories passed the following resolution: 1) the conference rejects searches as a shameful legacy of the past and considers it fundamentally inadmissible to conduct searches of workers at factories and plants, 2) the conference proposes that factory committees, as well as workshop committees, immediately raise this question for discussion at general meetings at factories and workshops in order to comprehensively illuminate this question, 3) to intensify oral and written agitation among workers in order to explain to them the incompatibility of any kind of theft and embezzlement with the title of worker, 4) the conference warns that persons observed engaging in theft and embezzlement at factories will be severely condemned by the workers’ comradely court.

This resolution was adopted by all those present, except one.

Representatives of 27 state enterprises and factories were present at the conference on May 2.

Deputy Chairman  F. Yevseyev

A little later, in the month of May, a congress of delegates of the executive committees of the factories of the naval department was held, a report of which we have in the “Rabochaya Gazeta,” Nos. 58 and 59 of May 17 and 18, 1917. This congress was preparatory to the convening of the All-Russian Congress of Factories of the Naval department. We present this report in full, despite the well-known tendentiousness in the transmission by the Menshevik newspaper. We see from here, however, what methods the conciliatory elements tried to cool the revolutionary energy of the masses, and how, despite all this, it broke through to the surface and achieved its goals.