Factory committee
Factory committees were workers' councils representing factory workers in the history of Russia and Soviet Union that accomplished workers' control in various forms.. Two basic meanings are to be distinguished.
Russian Revolution of 1917 and afterwards
Factory committees sprang up during the Russian Revolution of 1917. These committees were varied in origin and purpose, at times acting in a supervisory role over management, in other instances engaging in matters of collective bargaining and worker representation, and in some instances acting as rudimentary organs of workers' control.While the majority of factory committees fulfilled union-type roles, historians estimate that in 7-10% of cases, factory committees were the result of workers' take-over of the factory. Most factory committees of this type developed as a means by workers to counter lock-outs and/or sabotage by factory owners. As a June conference of factory committees resolution describes,
From the beginning of the Revolution the administrative staffs of the factories have relinquished their posts. The workmen have practically become the masters. To keep the factories going, the workers' committees have had to take the management into their own hands. In the first days of the Revolution, in February and March, the workmen left the factories and went into the streets. The factories stopped work. About a fortnight later, the mass of workmen returned to their work. They found that many factories had been deserted. The managers, engineers, generals, mechanics, foremen had reason to believe that the workmen would wreak their vengeance on them, and they had disappeared. The workmen had to begin work with no administrative staff to guide them. They had to elect committees which gradually re-established a normal system of work. The committees had to find the necessary raw materials, and altogether to take upon themselves all kinds of unexpected and unaccustomed duties."
Through the factory committees workers dealt primarily with immediate economic questions, such as planning production and allocating compensation for work. At times, factory committees grew to rival the power, prestige, and effectiveness of the soviets and eventually sought political power. Nearing the October revolution, factory committees continued to grow in size and scope, attracting working class. In the ensuing union debate (1920–1921)|Dispute about Trade Unions], the Bolsheviks managed to eliminate this threat to their monopoly on power.
Maurice Brinton of the Solidarity (UK) group wrote a history of the factory committees, their interactions with the unions and Bolsheviks in