IMPRESSIONS OF RUSSIA

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27011, 10 April 1953, Page 6

IMPRESSIONS OF RUSSIA

Report By Australian Union Delegate LIVING CONDITIONS CRITICISED , (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, March 30. Social conditions in Russia are criticised in a report by Mr Glen Fingleton, secretary of the mechanical branch of the Waterside Workers’ Federation in Sydney. The report has just been released for publication. Mr Fingleton, who is a brother of a former Australian test cricketer, Jack Fingleton, is one of a team of Australian trade union officials who attended the Russian Trade Union Congress. The party was in Russia for six weeks; returned to Australia on January 26. Mr Fingleton refused to speak on the Russian visit until he had written a report for his union. The Communist secretary of the union (Mr T. Nelson) attacked the report when he addressed 2000 unionists at a picking-up centre on Sydney’s waterfront. Mr Nelson said that Mr Fingleton was the only member of the trade union movement who had criticised conditions in Russia. , Mr Fingleton walked on to the platform, and the two men jockeyed for position. “You’ve had your say,” Mr Fingleton shouted; “let me have mine.” Mr Nelson left the platform. Mr Fingleton told the meeting: “Before I went overseas, I promised maritime unionists that I would tell the truth about what I saw in Russia. I have tried to do that in a report which contains some criticism and some things favourable about conditions in Russia.”

Mr Fingleton then demanded an hour to give his report to the next Sydney watersiders’ stop work meeting. “Class Struggle”

In an interview which largely paraphrased his report, Mr Fingleton said that, as in Australia, there were three classes living in the Russian community. He had heard a lot about there being no class struggle in Russia, but from what he had seen, he would say that was not true. “I saw a working class living apart from the middle class, or white-collar workers, as they are known in Australia,” said Mr Fingleton. “There was also an upper or rich class, mainly high Government officials and their families. Most of these had their own homes or cars. I also talked and mixed with Russian women in Moscow, Odessa, and other big cities. Workingclass and middle-class women are by no means as dainty and attractive as our Australian girls.” Mr Fingleton said Russian women did a lot of manual work.

In Odessa, Russia’s Black Sea port, Mr Fingleton' visited the home of a Russian family and had a meal with it. “The main dish was cold cooked fish and raw fish served with gherkins,” he said. “It was too unpalatable for me. It could not be compared with an Australian roast dinner. The beverage was the Russian equivalent of our cup of tea. It is called ‘chay’ and tastes like stewed tea. The Russians keep stewing the one lot of tea for several meals, and as a result you get a weak cup of tea.”

Mr Fingleton said most Russian families in the cities lived in apartment houses. The space they were allowed was governed by the size of the families. The Odessa family he visited comprised husband, wife and grown-up daughter. “Each member of a family in an apartment house is allowed nine square metres of space,” he said. “This meant that the family of three I visited had less than 300 square feet in which to eat, sleep, and live, excluding bathroom and small hallway. I didn’t get a chance to see the kitchen or sanitary accommodation, but I believe this is mostly a communal arrangement. “The sanitary facilities in public places in the big cities were shocking,” he said. “I refused to enter several of these buildings because the stench was to much for me. The Russians did not appear to be greatly worried about it. It was always passed off as due to bad plumbing.” Care of Children Mr Fingleton said the children generally appeared to be well fed and clothed. But most of them spent nearly all their early years in creches and kindergartens, while their parents worked in factories or on collective farms. “A lot of the children in kindergartens are sent away for about four months every year to various places that the Russians call resorts,” Mr Fingleton said. “I don’t know whether that is a good thing or not. But the average Australian mother would not like to be separated from her children so frequently.” Mr Fingleton said the police, who were known as militia, appeared to be very efficient. “They handle traffic just as well as our police, but there seemed to be more of them in the streets, particularly women police,” he said.

“The oddest sight of all was when I attended a big Association football match in Moscow. The huge arena, which seated about 90,000 people, had no shelter at all. AU the seats in front were taken up by Russian soldiers. I don’t know whether they were there .to prevent riots, or just because they, were given preference over the civilians. The football crowds don’t barrack like Australian football fans; they just whistle. “It was the most eerie sensation of my life to sit there and hear thousands of people whistling instead of shouting, hoofing, or cheering as we do in Australia,” he said. “It was a close game. But the Russians did no more than sit in their seats and whistle.”

Mr Fingleton said trade union conditions for workers did not compare with those in Australia. “For instance, sick-leave benefits at first glance look good,” he said. “However, apart from workers in heavy industries, a man would have to be in one employment for eight years before becoming eligible for sick-leave benefits.” He had found it hard to get first hand knowledge of what the average Russian thought of his living standards. “I always had to talk through an interpreter,” he said. ‘‘l always felt they were not telling me exactly what was said in Russian.” New Administration

Mr Fingleton said the name of the new Russian Prime Minister (Mr Malenkov) was rarely mentioned during his six-week stay in Russia. “I don’t think Mr Malenkov has much chance in trying to replace Stalin in the Russian mind,” he added. “My experience suggests that Mr Molotov and the police chief, Mr Beria, will not be content to play second fiddle to Mr Malenkov.” . A one-sided report on his visit to Russia had been published in the current issue of the “Maritime Worker,” the official newspaper of the Waterside Workers’ Federation, Mr Fingleton said. This report was factual, but gave only one side of the picture. Mr Fingleton’s name appears with eight others at the foot of this report, which praises all aspects of Soviet life and contains no criticism. “I have no political axe to grind,” he said. “I am not a Communist and I am not a financial member of the Labour Party. All I am interested in is to present the facts as Lsaw them to the members of my union in the clearest possible way.”