ABSTRACT
By 1923 all questions—including those of the trade unions—dropped to a position of secondary importance. The succession fight became the prime issue. The hope of reforming the unions and of winning a place for them as a major force in the Soviet system was side-tracked until the larger issue of the Party fight was resolved. Though adopting a pro-industrialization stance, Trotsky, in characteristic disregard of the unionists, called for the adoption of one-man management from "top to bottom" and made no concessions to either the unions or the workers. Thus Trotsky closed the door to a coalition with Tomsky and the unionists, though he was arguing a pro-industrialization position. On the floor of the Eighth Trade Union Congress, Valerian Kuibyshev, the Chairman of the Supreme Economic Council, acted as Stalin's chief spokesman. He argued for a maximum program of economic development at the cost of unbalanced growth for the purpose of economic survival.
