ABSTRACT
To the extent that the unions failed to gain control over the labor force or to show even reasonable ability to control the labor market, they contributed to their own undoing. In part, the larger economic problem of backwardness and disruption was beyond their reach and just swallowed them up. The problem of low real wages was a product of backwardness, of devastation from the civil war, and of inflation. During the civil war real wages had fallen sharply; Zagorsky estimated they were about one-third of the prewar level. Economic success depended in theory upon increased labor output as well as on higher capital outlays. At the same time the predominant characteristics of the labor market were: high turnover, a breakdown of labor discipline, low worker morale, and friction between labor and management. The collective agreements system, another side of the productivity-discipline problem, did not bring about the improved labor harmony necessary for making the most effective headway with output.
