Report On Subbotniks–Delivered to A Moscow City Conference of the R.C.P. (B)

Lenin’s report on the significance of voluntary labor on Saturday. The full name “The Report on Subbotniks (Saturday Voluntary Labor) at the Moscow City Conference of the R.C.P. (B)” which was first fully published in Pravda No. 245 on October 26, 1927. The Chinese translation is included in Vol. 38 of the second edition of the Complete Works of Lenin.

“Saturday Voluntary Labor” refers to the spontaneous and mass campaign of voluntary unpaid work implemented by the Communist Party members as the mainstay of participants. In 1919, faced with the interventionist military counterattacks by the foreign forces and domestic counterrevolutionaries, the workers of Moscow Tashan railway took the lead in developing this Communist labor form in the rear by extending working days and improving labor productivity. Lenin spoke highly of the dedication, heroism and pioneering spirit of workers in creating socialist economic and production conditions in a series of articles and speeches, such as “A Great Beginning: Heroism of the Workers in the Rear Communist Subbotniks” and the report on “Saturday Voluntary Labor” at the Moscow City Conference of the R.C.P. (B).

In Lenin’s view, “Saturday Voluntary Labor” is a more difficult and profound innovation than overthrowing the bourgeoisie, because it not only has great historical significance in overcoming the narrowness and selfishness of the bourgeoisie and the petty bourgeoisie, but also means a new type of labor completely different from the capitalist norms. Something higher than a socialist society that has defeated capitalism is unpaid labor organized on a large scale to meet the needs of the whole country.

Lenin expounded the significance of “Saturday voluntary labor” (Subbotnik) from different angles. First of all, by analyzing the nature of inter-class relations, Lenin pointed out that classes are interrelated system of social groups wherein one group can appropriate the labor fruits of the other group due to their different positions in a definite social and economic structure. Lenin argued that in order to completely eliminate classes, it is necessary to abolish not only capitalist ownership, but also abolish any ownership of means of production, and the prerequisite for the completion of this undertaking must be the full development of productive forces and the growth of productive forces in the material conditions of capitalist mass production. The proletariat shoulders the multiple missions of developing the productive forces and establishing and consolidating socialism, and the voluntary labor on Saturdays reflects the historical progressiveness of the working class to take the historical mission on its own initiative and raise its labor productivity voluntarily.

Secondly, by distinguishing socialism from communism, Lenin pointed out that socialism is a society that grows directly from capitalism, a primary form of the new society, while communism is a higher social form, which can only be developed when socialism is fully consolidated. The so-called communism refers to such a system, under which people are used to performing social obligations without special compulsory institutions and working for the public interest without remuneration will become a common phenomenon. Therefore, Lenin stressed that “communism” is still a very remote concept that must be treated with caution. It is precisely because of this that voluntary labor on Saturdays has special value after it is put into practice, because in such a small matter, something communist began to appear.

Finally, Lenin argued that Saturday’s voluntary labor is also of great significance to the construction of the party. For example, when removing the speculators and opportunists who have been mixed into the revolutionary ranks, it is necessary to use Saturday voluntary labor as the initiative to clean up the party. They are not allowed to join the party without half a year’s “test” or “probation period” of “engaging in work in the spirit of revolution”, and in the future, if there is no special labor or merit to prove his absolute loyalty and reliability, and to be able to be a communist, all need to go through such review.

“Saturday Voluntary Labor” days played a positive role in consolidating the new Soviet regime, restoring and developing the socialist economic construction, and was an important manifestation of the communist ideology.