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now on with today's

0:58

program times

1:00

are looking pretty hard in russia but

1:02

i would say in a very distinctively

1:05

russians sense because

1:08

, a variety of reasons historic and

1:10

political political economy

1:12

works really rather different from rather western

1:14

one the certainly is

1:16

a coming squeeze even

1:18

though it's by no means i think is catastrophic

1:21

as some expected expect

1:23

store in some cases

1:27

gdp gross domestic product may

1:29

fall by maybe six percent

1:31

this year although the russian

1:34

economy ministry has predicting just now

1:36

four point two percent inflation

1:39

has hit a twenty year high

1:41

of seventeen point eight percent and that's something

1:43

that's nothing to be sneeze that though

1:46

, can is likely to end the year

1:48

more like thirteen to fifteen percent

1:52

and on for comparison on

1:54

for in the uk this worries that

1:56

actually inflation could hit twenty two percent

1:59

and in his stead

1:59

yeah

2:00

she's already the twenty two twenty

2:02

five percent level

2:03

so thirteen to fifteen percent

2:06

it's it's bad known going to pretend

2:08

that any inflation is a good thing but

2:10

it's certainly not as disastrous meanwhile

2:13

putin has decreed a ten percent

2:16

hike in pensions and the minimum

2:18

wage and a variety

2:20

of big beasts in the economy

2:22

like a spare punk and gazprom

2:25

have made gazprom big points of increasing

2:27

their overall wages so

2:30

one would think that and i think it's

2:32

fair to say that probably has been no dramatic

2:34

fall in standard of living

2:37

or household incomes but

2:40

but but we also have to note some of

2:42

the problems that are ahead festival

2:44

look the majority of russian families

2:46

now have no savings

2:49

so up to now

2:51

a certain number of them were able to use savings

2:53

as a cushion stick the against the food

2:55

price increases which actually has been

2:58

higher than the overall level of inflation

3:03

meanwhile they're also very very specific

3:06

shortages software in some cases

3:08

it's not so much that prices have gone up with doesn't

3:10

do you combine the things we seen

3:12

this with some medicines that new some components

3:15

spare parts i mean apparently it's getting

3:17

so cutthroat in terms of the

3:19

demand for car spare parts for sure

3:22

in odyssey imported cars that

3:24

this is also leading to a increase

3:27

in consists with

3:29

the cars and disappearing to shop ships

3:31

to be rendered down to a whole

3:33

variety be exceedingly lucrative spare

3:35

parts which actually the

3:38

spare parts so separately

3:40

are worth move on the car sold

3:42

as a whole a

3:45

lot of the sectors of the economy the big employing

3:47

sectors actually are falling on

3:49

me miss machine building production is down

3:51

between ten and seventeen percent chemical

3:54

production down nine to ten percent

3:56

and generally this clearly also significant

3:59

pressure the retail sector people

4:01

are still buying but on the whole

4:03

they are buying in a lower ticket

4:06

items that looking for bargains and such

4:09

according to the deputy prime minister and

4:11

rebelo self know he's

4:13

least he's least that told recent maybe

4:16

not so much reckoning as admitting that

4:18

in the second half of twenty twenty two

4:21

unemployment could increase by

4:23

what he says a maximum of two hundred

4:25

to three hundred thousand now

4:28

the interesting thing about russian unemployment

4:31

is that at present it is at a historic

4:33

low just three point nine percent

4:36

with six hundred and seventy five thousand russians

4:39

registered as be out of work so i mean unquote

4:41

context three hundred thousand increase is

4:43

enough significant it's it's almost fifty

4:45

percent increase ,

4:48

the existing figure press it three point nine

4:50

percent is low low mean

4:52

in the uk it's just three point eight percent

4:54

okay but in france the moment is seven

4:56

point four percent so in this

4:59

respects russia or

5:01

votes i see significant economic pressures

5:04

as not really seeing that playing out

5:06

playing unemployment figures now

5:10

what why's that first

5:12

of all in some ways it's because

5:15

the storm hasn't really hit it's

5:17

not just about household savings being

5:19

essentially wiped out so to frankly

5:21

all the financial resources

5:24

all many of

5:26

commercial and industrial enterprises and

5:28

likewise so to of stocks of

5:31

components and raw materials that

5:33

have been built up before sanctions

5:35

picked at the same time

5:38

the economy hasn't yet some recorded

5:41

the end all be that's what happens

5:43

every autumn after all the end of

5:46

seasonal summer employment

5:48

in tourism and agriculture

5:50

and indeed and indeed jobs

5:52

so now part of the is about time

5:54

secondly there has

5:56

been something about we don't yet have proper figures

5:59

why this been way some all an

6:01

outflow all the central asian

6:03

label migrants who people about

6:05

ten million workers who

6:07

, a lot of the the nasty

6:09

hard and not very well paid jobs

6:12

whether it's building the metro

6:14

or sweeping snow come winter so

6:16

a certain number of them have gone home

6:19

and the odyssey means

6:21

that there's more employment to of so count

6:23

potential unemployed

6:26

link the government is clearly very

6:28

very worried about this historic the unemployment

6:31

or something instant on see dates back to be

6:33

soviet times and that is in some way

6:35

unemployment is a bit of a taboo a

6:38

disproportionately is regarded as

6:40

a failure of the state if

6:42

we have high levels of unemployment so

6:44

, subsidizing employer is

6:46

she in effect is basically selling

6:49

them keeping them on the books regardless it's

6:51

instituted a whole series of new training

6:53

schemes schemes the effectiveness

6:56

of these trading schemes is questionable

6:58

but the great virtue is that when you're

7:00

on a training scheme you are not on the unemployment

7:03

the as we should

7:05

remember this current drive to recruit

7:07

new soldiers volunteer battalions

7:10

that have been raised in every single region

7:12

of the country well to considerable

7:15

degree this is disproportionately drawn from

7:17

the unemployed knowledge to this who

7:19

the hell else would want to the and join want

7:21

to warm so in all of these were

7:23

fitted with the government itself is actively and

7:26

implicitly doing things to suppress

7:28

the rate of unemployment broadly

7:31

speaking of true looks forty percent

7:33

of russians in employment

7:35

are , by the state

7:38

state state owned enterprises

7:40

all by private firms very very strong

7:43

state links so the

7:45

government has leverage because

7:47

he wants to keep all these these budget me

7:49

teeth these people whose employment a sense

7:51

be covered by the russian state budget

7:54

because the wants to

7:56

keep him on side it wants to be employed

7:58

it wants to keep them at least doubly happy

8:01

because that's can only last so long

8:03

as it's willing and able to actually pay the price

8:06

to for the moment yes it's winning to dump

8:08

cash into keeping unemployment

8:10

down on

8:12

the stick rather than current level

8:14

of influence also los the simple reason

8:17

that russia has very very low

8:19

and poor unemployment benefits

8:22

so many people have people have good reason to

8:24

find some kind of employment regardless

8:27

and also given that

8:29

me that this is a fairly deregulated economy

8:32

there are others who constraints on the things that

8:34

actually would would in limited

8:36

labour mobility to generally speaking

8:38

people can let me they can set up this up this

8:40

quickly but also more to the point people concerned

8:42

consists jobs quite quickly

8:45

so broadly speaking

8:47

there is pressure but of course it doesn't

8:49

mean that there for people are happy

8:52

they mean it we unemployed but

8:54

instead of being unemployed traditionally

8:57

what's happened in the russian economy this economy this happening

8:59

now is instead the first

9:01

choice is bother to reduce

9:04

pray and reduce hours rather

9:06

than actually set people so you'd rather keep someone

9:08

norman me on the books

9:10

so

9:11

the government

9:12

me worried about this

9:14

going up a survey that was produced by bloomberg

9:18

i just actually unemployment could all

9:21

all caveats with a could hit nine

9:23

percent by the end of the year the nine

9:26

and is pretty high under any circumstances

9:28

but politically speaking it

9:30

would be embarrassing it just

9:33

seriously problematic problematic

9:37

and it's worth noting that certainly my very

9:39

strong conviction is that the

9:41

real potential challenge to

9:44

public order in other words were protests

9:46

in the streets and so forth my come from it's

9:49

not gonna be from politics is not the so

9:51

even gonna be from the for the was in

9:53

the first instance it's gonna be driven primarily

9:55

from economic pressures and those

9:57

economic pressures may will open the

10:00

door to other wider political

10:02

issues

10:03

so

10:04

they will be pressure even is

10:07

a certain amount of that will be basically bled

10:09

off into the informal economy the

10:11

people will find ways of

10:13

making ends meet one way

10:15

or the other one one shouldn't ever

10:18

underestimate russians capacity

10:20

for survival is i mean to him

10:22

for think back to back

10:24

, in the the and twenty fifteen

10:27

i was living for short while into

10:29

to nikki which is a suburb

10:31

in these are outer limits of most go

10:33

to the southeast close to be be

10:36

rather greasy industrial

10:38

suburban town of you betsy in

10:40

fact i'll even a note in the

10:42

program notes a link to

10:45

a relevant entry from my some personal

10:47

travel blog travels in deepest muscovite

10:50

which are less likely to remain less likely band's

10:53

for while the moment anyway and

10:55

the thing that struck me that was i mean it was very

10:57

much as suburbs don't the middle of construction i

10:59

mean literally i was in one block that was built

11:02

and must have looked out at the her

11:04

sister block that was still be constructed

11:06

and there was a metro stop but there

11:08

wasn't even a properly as tarmac

11:11

to praise road to wait to get doesn't

11:14

track , way through the mud and that kind

11:16

of thing thing the people

11:18

around me the people who basically will

11:20

will living in these facts were really

11:23

thrived say mid to late twenties

11:25

too early thirties couples with

11:28

a very young kid is

11:30

it people were living centrally kid

11:33

comes along they need a bit more space

11:35

account for any way more centrally moscoso

11:38

they find themselves out only themselves very

11:40

end of the as i recall purple

11:43

met her life and

11:45

this was a time in which a

11:47

lot of russians have been encouraged take out mortgages

11:50

and many these mortgages were actually

11:53

defined een dollar

11:55

or euro terms desert

11:57

time that seem to make sense but

11:59

then to for team we saw a substantial

12:02

and deterioration in the value all

12:04

the ruble and , the sudden

12:07

these mortgages were hard for them

12:09

to sustain sustain sorry

12:11

clearly a lot of these young couples

12:14

were looking to second and third

12:16

jobs to to make ends meet he wasn't

12:18

just that they was empty having to make to

12:21

been doing all their own d i y washing

12:23

their and cause what kinds of the in the number

12:25

of them who were was

12:28

awful acting as taxi drivers in

12:30

the evenings and that kind of thing it easy

12:32

if you could see people having to respond

12:34

to an economic crisis and doing so

12:36

often crisis the informants and mean

12:38

formal sectors so this way fairmount

12:41

that and and it's going to happen and it's going to allow

12:43

people to survive one way or the other no

12:47

same one would have thought this

12:49

is a pretty good opportunity for

12:51

the left and four

12:54

labour movement especially with an increase

12:56

in a particular problem of unpaid wages which

12:58

says is another way that people gonna respond

13:01

and it sits silly worrying

13:03

of late there was a story that the

13:06

head of the air traffic controllers

13:08

association hussein actually

13:10

that there wasn't there money to pay air traffic controllers

13:13

it is this one particular sector

13:15

you want them to be a happy

13:18

well rested and generally grunting

13:20

with their but

13:24

incidences of a much more sort of general

13:26

problem of of unpaid or

13:28

under paid wages or people not getting

13:30

overtime and that kind of as

13:34

regards the communist party again i've

13:36

i've talked about this in my view is really

13:38

although there is clearly the

13:40

movement within the movement shall we say

13:43

of people who genuinely believes

13:46

that the communist party should stand for

13:48

even faintly leftwing values and

13:50

less and opposition party should oh i don't

13:52

know be in opposition to the government's

13:54

sometimes government's sometimes as

13:57

zombies you gone off as

13:59

he seventy years old so far

14:01

and counting continues to

14:03

occupy the leadership which how

14:06

many surely it can't

14:08

be forever that will have to wait and see

14:10

well in so long as he's there the communist party

14:13

as a passing them to the single

14:16

and seventy national level entity is

14:18

not going to be doing anything particularly

14:20

effective and it be interested see

14:22

what happens in twenty twenty four what the presidential elections

14:25

because that can sometimes be an

14:27

opportunity to see some lifestyle

14:29

in the passing and up to that

14:31

point we will see activists on

14:33

activists grassroots level but nothing

14:35

on a national level so

14:38

what about trade unions well

14:41

russia's labor movement is still very

14:43

very much caught in the iron

14:46

fences between the soviet

14:48

era in the nineteen nineties to

14:50

, soviets after all the trade unions

14:52

were not they're primarily to be

14:55

constraints on the employer than the city

14:57

the employee was the government but instead

14:59

they will part all the overall transmission

15:02

belts they were there as an

15:04

additional way in which the

15:06

communist party could control

15:08

and mobilize it's own population

15:11

so really despite the fact that

15:13

they they were situations in which actually

15:15

trade union activists and structures

15:18

could indeed indeed for workers'

15:20

rights and so forth but to a large

15:23

extent they will simply yet another

15:25

arm off arm ,

15:27

or mobilization states and

15:30

then in the nineteen nineties we

15:32

had this neoliberal anarchy

15:35

aimless , say economic might make

15:37

right right frankly

15:40

it's still pretty much the much

15:43

i'll eat those western best

15:45

seats who romanticized the who union

15:48

and to somehow on some

15:50

level think that russia today

15:53

many says surrey bodies certain

15:55

so swiss characteristics absolutely

15:58

should wake up to the degree to which this

16:00

is very much a capital this playground

16:03

but anyway what what this does mean is

16:06

that the of the trade unions have for a long time

16:08

but in a very very weak position legally

16:11

and practically in the nineteen

16:14

nineties trade union activists word

16:16

with depressing frequency

16:18

disappear , end up with their

16:20

legs broken his face says to be

16:22

a little bit too bullshit and

16:25

oversee now it's not quite so

16:27

obvious but nonetheless they

16:29

will still often face all kinds of parishes

16:32

which will come to a in a moment for

16:35

very early signs

16:37

of life which in some way to begin

16:40

way allow us to force traitor

16:43

the distinction between different types of trade

16:45

union and different trying to train your next i

16:48

went first of all we have those

16:50

which is still clearly perfectly willing

16:52

to act as transmission boots i'm

16:55

perfectly willing to be quote unquote

16:57

patriots i mean free zone

17:00

pool last month say was the

17:02

the day of the russian flag ran

17:05

for that you had a whole series of of

17:07

different public bodies expressing

17:09

their that i patriotism and so forth and

17:12

among some we had the chair

17:14

of leaps golf region trade unions

17:17

who , a very sort of bullish patriotic

17:19

speech or and organized

17:22

a flash mob of trade union

17:24

members to show the

17:27

russian tri color flag flag

17:29

like that i mean you can very very shallow

17:33

they have no real benefit except of course

17:35

for the individual concerned who might get a few

17:37

brownie points from the political leadership but

17:39

again they very much demonstrate trade unions

17:41

in a in slavishly subordinate

17:44

role as if they were just some new

17:47

blue collar on certain now she

17:49

or whatever

17:50

then there are

17:52

those who might see the presented

17:55

as loyal subjects

17:57

with for lock tugging a p

18:00

the to the leadership that in my many

18:02

ways i find still terribly reminiscent

18:04

of the old habit of

18:06

petitioning the tsar because

18:08

you had the assumption that to the tsar

18:10

being a divine right monarch clearly

18:13

could not be a bad person i mean why would

18:16

go to have chosen him otherwise and

18:18

therefore it was a simply that the evil

18:20

boils around him word

18:23

denying him knowledge of what was really going on

18:25

the only one could get message to the tsar

18:27

he would have

18:28

fix it so the

18:30

new see we've had that often

18:32

being raised being the context of put in

18:35

zone travels

18:36

incidentally

18:38

after a wonderfully some real

18:40

example of that of

18:41

new put in again don't going

18:44

kaliningrad as i recall and stopping

18:46

the motorcade popping out just as have talked to

18:48

some passes by and literally

18:51

he just basis idea did you have any here the

18:54

great snow is the

18:56

regional governor giving you any trouble know

18:59

fine so he he hopped back in the car mean

19:02

frankly if you gonna do a poo

19:04

to meet the people at least but little

19:06

bit of effort into it but anyway

19:09

if we had as a recent example

19:11

that b c was in july

19:14

, was juliet was you lie lie

19:17

workers of the easiest car

19:19

plant which is often facing series pressures

19:21

politically because of a lot of phone

19:24

spare parts they issued

19:26

a an open letter to put in

19:28

complaining about factory down time

19:31

as a result of that

19:32

and it didn't the way

19:34

the

19:35

framed was basically

19:37

not so much a critique of

19:39

the three , so

19:42

much as an admission the factory management

19:44

could do nothing and therefore they

19:46

were having to appeal to hire

19:48

orders now i'm in the context yes

19:51

it is agitating

19:53

for an economic cause because

19:55

clearly down time equals

19:57

reduce pay

19:59

but nominate

19:59

they were some some careful

20:02

not to good anything that seem to include criticism

20:05

as anyone from factory

20:07

managers are on up once the said said

20:09

this this is kind of a attempt to

20:11

basically do their jobs in a safe a

20:13

man was possible but

20:15

we also got regains that are beginning

20:17

to really be more active

20:19

in terms of defending their members right

20:22

so let's take the usual brief break and

20:24

then look at the positive stuff when

20:26

, which kind of trade unions actually do

20:29

try and do their job and perhaps more

20:31

to the point in a system which is

20:33

so heavily rigged against them in

20:35

which actually striking is so difficult

20:38

what else can you do just

20:40

the usual reminder you're listening to the in moscow

20:43

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20:45

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20:50

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and you can also follow me on twitter at

20:59

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21:01

ma galliani on russia now

21:04

back to the show

21:12

so russian trade unions can

21:14

actually do their jobs and

21:16

, was hunting around for vertically good examples

21:20

and the one which kept cropping up his

21:22

the seafarers union of russia the

21:24

obvious which is unusual

21:26

effective and again i'm not talking about

21:29

big grand issues so much

21:31

as you know a lot of very very specific

21:34

new , rights rights

21:37

and six like and in the seems

21:39

very active it's willing

21:42

to to make his case quite forcefully

21:44

it's got inspectors in st petersburg

21:46

novorossisk and novorossisk and

21:50

think we'll why was then and my views

21:52

just don't mind hypothesis

21:55

don't , it is because it is

21:58

an affiliate old the internet

21:59

transport workers federation

22:02

and it operates in an explicitly

22:05

international business you

22:08

have russian sailors own forum

22:10

flagships you have

22:12

for insiders on russian flagships

22:15

you have russians who get into trouble

22:17

or russian ships you that into trouble in

22:19

for imports and and so forth

22:22

and as results caesar's

22:24

union has

22:26

the definition

22:26

to be in constant

22:29

contact with and cooperation

22:31

with its counterparts,

22:33

all around the world sonic

22:35

seven

22:37

context of an industry that moscow needs

22:39

running apps essential

22:42

for the kremlin to ensure that

22:44

russian freighters an oil tankers

22:47

and so forth continue to ply their

22:49

trade so this this interesting

22:52

because it means they have a certain amount of

22:54

muscle

22:55

they have a certain amount

22:57

of international visibility but

22:59

more to the point they also have had a considerable

23:02

high levels of interaction and

23:04

, reason i'm i'm dwelling on his opponent showing

23:07

[unk] [unk] unions karen in their

23:09

own very very narrow focus to

23:12

and it's actually have impact

23:15

i think it is also an interesting

23:17

rejoinder to the notion that

23:20

thirty years old interaction

23:22

with the west has done nothing for

23:24

changing values attitudes

23:27

and approaches in russia and can it's it's kb

23:29

it's part of the debates and take place over

23:31

visas and stuff like and

23:34

i think it's and it's and shalit perception

23:36

as anyone who's been missing some my former

23:38

or costs will mouth

23:40

the degree here we have a really interesting

23:42

example

23:43

the of how deep and broad

23:45

contact over time has

23:47

absolutely allowed the russians

23:50

in seafarers union to learn

23:53

not just tricks to the train and tactics

23:55

that most of the habits of

23:58

trade unionism of the degree

23:59

which absolutely you appreciate your

24:02

job is indeed

24:03

to protect the rights of your workers

24:05

of your members regardless

24:07

of whether or not the in the government's gonna be happy

24:10

or the employer's going to be happy i mean let's be honest

24:12

trade unions often by definition would

24:15

be doing things that the employer written in to be happy with more

24:18

broadly that insisting that was one example

24:20

but sometimes we actually are also seeing

24:23

unions acting to try and defend

24:26

their own members against political pressure

24:28

we seen this for example to limited access

24:30

to heal non local level among

24:33

teachers and such like but we

24:36

gotta recognize that the system

24:38

is very very much stacked against

24:40

trade unions and the capacity to act mean

24:42

the labour code for example does allow

24:44

strikes under certain circumstances but

24:47

with an incredibly lengthy and bureaucratic

24:49

process and ,

24:51

that actually sucking people is a much much

24:53

less bureaucratic issue what we

24:55

often find is that employers precisely

24:58

use the time that this process is taking

25:01

as an opportunity to sack the instigators

25:05

a lot easier than actually having to address the issues

25:07

and therefore often russian trade

25:10

unions and russian labor groups have

25:12

to resort to inform election as

25:14

election as

25:16

interesting in the last at least

25:18

decade maybe longer there's

25:20

only been about follies legal

25:23

strikes year five

25:26

precisely , of the degree to

25:28

which you still with ninety ninety three labour code

25:30

in effect effect on the other hand

25:33

this been at least four hundred labour

25:35

protests every year according to the those

25:37

people who tried to log these kinds of

25:39

things we see all kinds

25:41

of other ways in which labour

25:43

can labour their a wildcat

25:46

strikes the top not organized

25:48

there are ghosts lose and work to rules

25:51

which i'm not sure if i should say

25:53

entertainingly or offensively

25:56

are described as italian strikes

25:59

for that matter

25:59

three the russian word for strike

26:02

because other stuff actually

26:04

, back to two italian italian

26:07

the to remove enough

26:10

though had enough or

26:12

a anyway so in all

26:14

kinds of kinds of ways eat and

26:16

things like a mess clearly organized

26:19

sicknesses

26:21

and another little sidebar one at what i'm

26:23

doing the things i'm at the time

26:25

over ninety ninety one august coup

26:27

against gorbachev on the

26:29

first day of the to the russian

26:32

police experience the highest ever

26:34

level of calling

26:36

in sick why would

26:38

have no one really knew his his push was going

26:40

to succeed and , the one hand

26:42

you have lot of police officers who didn't actually

26:44

want to go out there and start functioning their neighbors

26:47

in the name of us some kind of ghastly

26:50

reactionaries of kaboul kaboul

26:53

on the other hand they didn't necessarily want to burn their

26:55

bridges and come out to obviously

26:57

as anti ku so

26:59

they called in sick gave it a day

27:01

just to see which way the things things were going

27:04

so is this is that this a long

27:06

tradition him so this all kinds

27:08

of kinds which people will

27:11

return to but even that

27:13

has very significant risks and me one can

27:15

since sit of for example the continued

27:18

detention all these founder

27:20

all these korea's trade union which

27:23

is in other words for people like in of people

27:25

who didn't need of food deliveries in the like which

27:27

is a massive industry and russia particularly

27:29

in in some of the major wealthiest

27:32

it is like like moscow so

27:34

, founder who's a leftist cooled

27:37

kill or cried safe and frankly your

27:40

name is crimes twenty

27:47

twenty precisely

27:49

, of the whole they could not strike especially

27:51

because of the relative currency

27:54

of their employment they have

27:56

turned to other kinds of actions and

27:58

since april and has

28:01

been in prison precisely for violating

28:03

procedure on public protests

28:06

saying that's the usual kind of

28:09

way in which the

28:11

government response in it's it it basically

28:13

uses a political weapon against

28:16

they progress is an important point important come

28:18

to in a moment the what's interesting

28:20

is nonetheless the korea's trade union has now

28:22

become affiliated with something called solidarity

28:25

platform which , to

28:27

not just korea's but also

28:29

taxi drivers crane

28:31

operators another construction workers

28:34

are online retail staff

28:36

who awesome face very very bad situation i'm

28:38

sick the this an online retailer called

28:41

wild berries that has become particularly

28:43

infamous with claims for example

28:45

staff on has having to undress

28:47

down to their underwear to prove

28:50

that they're not trying to steal from the warehouses

28:53

a little isn't always thought of people who are relatively

28:55

precarious work conditions who are

28:58

appreciating the need to provide

29:00

often construct horizontal

29:03

connection some degrees of solidarity

29:05

see how that develops backing

29:08

twenty eight twenty nine

29:10

clean and , only

29:12

very much had his his cool cool strategy

29:15

trying to mobilize what i was calling

29:17

at the time the coalition of the set up

29:19

up other words a whole variety people who have

29:21

their own reasons to be annoyed

29:23

with the status quo in some cases

29:25

explicitly political but more often than that

29:27

frankly that and

29:29

the idea is you you provide some

29:31

kind of lightning

29:34

rod to which they lightning rod all

29:36

be attracted

29:37

and it was

29:39

the having some i would suggest

29:41

definite success you know that sickly

29:44

increasing connections and support

29:46

from l a chain whose head

29:48

of the confederation of labor of russia

29:51

no valleys now in

29:53

prison his organization in russia

29:55

has been rolled up and state

29:57

has been stepping up as activities against

30:00

trade unions and , this respect

30:02

i think that's an interesting parallel with

30:04

the nineteenth century nineteenth

30:07

century russia was going through going going

30:09

through a massive

30:11

forced modernization and

30:13

said which is really being driven by

30:15

the state

30:16

all industrial revolutions

30:18

tend to be pretty nasty experiences

30:21

if you are at the shop and to them but as you

30:23

to russia does , was a rough

30:25

accelerated one was securely

30:29

and

30:31

obviously therefore as as you'd expect

30:33

i would be a beginnings

30:35

of a labor movement that

30:38

protests gets not just of the poor salaries

30:40

and so forth but the often exceeding the

30:43

ghastly and dangerous working

30:45

conditions and living conditions for so many of these workers

30:48

will basically peasants who had come

30:50

been forced into the towns and

30:53

we're living in sentiments

30:55

barrett blocks you name it and

30:58

what happened was surprise surprise

31:01

that the state was he had naturally

31:03

suspicious of any labor organization

31:06

specially after all so much this

31:08

industry was military oriented

31:10

or state backed and

31:13

therefore would often actually

31:15

treat labour protests

31:18

which you were driven by purely

31:20

economic reasons as political

31:23

and therefore were fair target

31:25

for the police for the cossacks for

31:27

the ferghana political police and

31:30

in the process arguably would it did

31:32

was it made the workers political

31:35

it actually meant that the state identified

31:37

itself with the exploiters

31:40

and with suppression now

31:42

look many actually within the law enforcement

31:44

and security apparatus thought this is a very very bad

31:46

idea of most notably those cities

31:49

battles who as head

31:51

of the moscow or around up and having

31:53

himself come from a revolutionary background

31:55

actually wanted to create what

31:58

he called what has been called police socialism

32:01

in other words trade unions directly

32:03

created with the patronage all the police

32:06

in the state either overtly of or often covertly

32:09

as , way off since

32:11

we trying to divide the genuinely

32:14

economic protests from the genuinely political

32:16

ones and not make one

32:18

simply a recruiting the

32:21

motions for the other and

32:23

this was very the

32:26

i think very thoughtful imaginative

32:28

an intelligent and of an approach and

32:30

, is obviously why it didn't prosper

32:33

ultimately in russia zuko thoughts

32:35

critic said that his own encouraged

32:37

sedition and revolutionary

32:40

mindset and eventually

32:43

his experiment was basically ended

32:47

interestingly of into part of himself would actually

32:49

commit suicide or with with the fabbri

32:51

revolution and the application of of the tsar

32:53

in this was not someone who was trying to find

32:56

ways of supporting

32:58

revolution from inside the police operators

33:01

and of course by allowing and then

33:03

ending this experiment police socialism

33:06

as is so often the way the tsar estate

33:09

managed to be it's own worst enemy so

33:11

it generates heat expectations and

33:13

then disappointed them ultimately

33:17

though the regime in effect decided

33:19

that labour was the enemy and

33:21

therefore handed the labor movement to

33:23

the revolutionaries

33:26

in russia nothing so

33:28

exciting is happening and there's

33:30

no real likelihood of any kind

33:33

of serious resurgence

33:35

all the labor movement on the side

33:37

of the predictive horizon but

33:40

i do think that we can expect

33:42

and should be looking for a lot

33:44

more informal local

33:48

are often sort often basically grass

33:50

roots actions protests

33:53

and co slows and and everything else

33:56

which you gonna be important because can be one of the one

33:58

of the metrics we can you the trying to

34:00

assess what the real mood the country

34:02

is and i think also we can

34:04

see more the beginnings of electoral

34:07

solidarity the again

34:09

this is a me to watch because if we think it the

34:12

russians should not be to simply defined

34:14

as pro or anti poaching they have

34:16

their own agency they have

34:18

their own different set of interests and

34:21

in particular what has been crucial

34:23

in the past in the

34:25

limiting or even blocking any attempts

34:28

to mobilize against the kremlin

34:30

is precisely this lack of lateral

34:32

solidarity i mean if one looks for

34:34

example at the

34:37

intern the sign squabbling within

34:39

the ex patriot the

34:41

pumpkin opposition movement particularly

34:44

visible the recent congress

34:46

, free russia in vilnius

34:49

well this lack of horizontal

34:51

connections this lack of solidarity as

34:53

it has been as a crucial problem and

34:55

although there are many different routes

34:58

which need indeed to be taken but

35:00

one of the possible ones that

35:02

will actually help russians create

35:04

this kind of solidarity and in the process

35:06

create a real civil society and

35:09

of the sign kind of national collective

35:12

identity which begins to give

35:14

this the nation agency

35:16

against a very very over powerful state

35:19

is gonna be the trade union movement

35:21

maybe

35:22

we shall see that there are a few signs

35:25

of potential optimism for long time

35:27

in the future

35:28

up the workers

35:31

well that's the end of another episode of the

35:33

in moscow shadow podcast just

35:35

as a reminder is the on this you can follow

35:37

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36:08

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36:11

next time keep well

36:14

moonraker