TYPICAL MONTHLY BUDGET AND WORKING DAY OF KRAKOW UNSKILLED WORKER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500430128-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 3, 2004
• Sequence Number: 128
• Publication Date: March 17, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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COWID?rrJAL
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
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SUBJECT [Typical Monthly'Budg:t and Working Day of Krakow 'in-
skilled Worker
RED
C
Agencies indicated above. It is not to be transmitted oversewn without the concurrence of the
originating ofnce through the Assistant Director of the Office of Collection and Dissemination, CIA.
TNI$ OOC W(NT CON}AINI IN/OIYAT10N AITCCTINO INC NATIONAL D[I(NSI
0/ 1.1[ UNI TLO LTATIS, ?I .1.( .1'. 1 NO 0I TITLE II. 3CC T1DNS
TLS
AND TSA 01 III U.L. CODE. AS ANINOLO. ITS TRANSMISSION ON .[If.
LAT ION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR 4(0(11T IT AN UOAUTI,O AI(CD R(?SON IS
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THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
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DATE DISTR. /7 mar 1954
NO. OF PAGES 5
NO. OF ENCLS.
SUPP. TO
REPORT NO.
"The following description of the monthly budget and average d.s of an
average Polish worker and hin family is based on o'nservsti
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2. "Citizen Wladyslax 8ogucki L:ictitious name is an unskilled laborer, about
45, fosrried, with three children: two girls, 14 and eight, and a boy, three.
They live at 14 1romadzka Street in Plashov, a suburb of Krakow There is
no water system _n this suburb, no gas, no sewers.
MonthlyBudget
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"The family live in one room with a kitchen. Their monthly expenses for rent,
light and hest' are as fo].lowe:
Rent 15 Zloty
Light ':about 16 1zloty
Meat about c~c, Glot~r
Tota1 121 Zloty per month
DI$TRIOUTION M STATE ARMT
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(In principle the rent is not as high an 15 zi. per month, because the workers
have to pay lees than eix.Jroase for one egnare muter, which means abou'. 1 /10o z-1 .
%sic-probably l.0"0 sloty for 30 eq meters. But the tents are reluctant to pay such
s rent and pay the landlord a little more voluntarily. (,Sentence copied exactly from
Crans.t.ationJ). The coal al1..teen': is only enab to want' We kitceen. MW
living roost has a kolkhoz loudspeaker installed by the Badiophonization Bureau
roar 360 zl. in the old currency (9.20 zl. in the present currency).
"Citizen Bogucki is working at NOWA HUTA because the wages there for nnskill(A
workers are about the beat to be had. He is a manual laborer, working on
excavations, with the firm Zjednoczenie Budowy Nowea Huty (Uaioa of Howe Bute.
Construction). He earns about 800 zl per month, depending on the work he by
done. His wife does not work.
"The husband's monthly wages in Nov 53 arwunted to 842.20 zl net, which broke
down into:
An advance paid 21 Nov 53 350?-- zl
Adjustment paid 8 Dec 53 492.20 zl
Total es 842.20 Zl
In addition, he received 8 Dec 53 a family allowance for his wife and three
children:
1 zi
Total November income 1040.20 zl
es
6. "He had to pay out 8 Dec 53 immediately upon receipt of wages:
Member'p contribution for the Union 9.-. zl
(1% of erages )
Member's contribution, Association
of Soviet-Polish Friendship 2.--
Member's contribution, Le-jue of
Soldiers' Friends 2.--
Member's contribution, Loan & Aid
Association (not all workers
belong to this association) 9.-.
Total compulsory dues
Other regular monthly expenses:
c5.60 ;l
Rent, light, heat 121.-- zl
Deduction for Parents' Cose-
mittee (elder daughter at-
tongs a profe,esional school) 10.-- zl
Commutation to work
Trsawsy 10.50 zl
Bus (monthly ticket on private
bus rurning to Plsshov) 30.-- zl
Basic monthly food expenses:
Milk, ore liter per day 90.-. al
Bread (rya), two kg per day at
3 zl./kg 180.-
Sugar, four kg at 15.70 zl./kg 62.80
wheat flour, five kg at 8 zl/kg 40...
Potatoes, 100 kgo 120...
Fat, four kg at 40 zl/kg
Total baste monthly expenses 911.90 zl.
COMPID$NTIAL
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en Bogucki has not such opportunities because he
. washes and dresses. He eats bread and drinks blea-k
hurry to catch the crowded bus to Ghetto' Heroes
Square, a ride of about l5 minutes. His wife dashes out to queue for meat
or some other sc^rce food. The older girl dashes out to queue for milk, before
going to school.
ONFIDENTTA4
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'Out of a monthly income i?f 1040.20. zl, the ,family is now left with the sum
of 122.30 zl to cover sub -necesdhj its= w: soap, vegetetblies, coffee, meat,
hutter, etc., not to ment on clothes. Citizen Bogucki must d2'eas his three
children, his-,wife and hisBelf. A pair of woman's shoes of medium~quality
coats 600-800'zi; a cost f medium quality for a teen-age girl costs about
1000 zl; a pair of decent trousers costs about 600 zl; a new set of soles
for work boots costs 68 zl; a pair of socks costs 24 zl. He mast also buy
school supplies for his y~uager daughter. The family must usual 'get on
without meat, butter, sugar, fruits. Sweets for the children are out ofl
the question.
"After so many yearn of low wages, how do people in Poland mete to get
clothest They do menage;l they trade, they steal state and cosmmal property.
There are ways for the smart people. When a fort was demolished on the Way
to NOVA HUM the foreman and workers sold half the bricks o peasants and
shared the profits. Citi
is working on excavations
Average Working Day
"Bogucki gets up at 5 A.M
"Com$utation: At Ghetto eroes Square, Bogucki changes for Tramway 9 or 11,
x nni the Rondo, a rpvndabout. There he changes for Tramway 5 and in
20 minutes arrives at No Huta, This is his usual commutation route. He
is due for work at 7 AN. (first shift). The trans are so crowded !, that no-
body who has not seen the can imagine how the passengers hang on to any part
to get a ride. The pri bus from Plashov usually runs on time but is old
and often out of order. The road into Ghetto Heroes Square is bad. Passen-
gers call the Plasnov unit a 'samovar' because it often boils at full steam..
The Municipal Transport Jnterprise has not enough buses to servo 'Zl pascsen-
gers; sometimes Bogucki must walk. The trans sometime do not- run, due to
3.aok of current or a tras~stalled on the tracks. The Tramway 5 route to ', nova
Huts is often out of order. The tram any still be crowded in the evening
around 7:00 P.M if m%a y workers have had meetings. The bus is most croWe4
out 4:00 P.M., with wo kers end with women carrying market baskets wadi
seat containers.
11. "Labor Discipline: If Bogucki in late for work he encounters the famous Labor
D sc p ne. There is no avoidance of this discipline, no matter now many
reseoaable excuses for 1 enecaee. He must report to the Labor Discipline
Desk. For a few 1Atenessen, a reprimand; after that deduction of one day's
pay or. transfer to a lesser job etc. If infringements pile up, a tribua.ai
and in the end the forced, labor camp. It is better not to come in contact
with this Discipline.
Identification- tion_ Boguc1d produces his workerb pass upon entering his work
site. He loins his work iing teen. The foreman allots him a Rector! The
excavation work begins.
13. "aSees,, Sousa Norma: Sometimes due to bad organization a worker stands idle,
looking or his bosses. His pay will be small. But the foreman usually'
cheats wtten writing out the man's '-working card'. The worker mast', earn at
least 500 zl per month; gqthervioe hia will leave and join another firm, and
,there is a shortage cf labor. A worker can quit his Job after 14 days' notice.
CONF'IDEDiTIA
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Therefore, the foreman records work which the worker, has not ActuolIy done.
If his foreman. follows the norm system. cisely, the average worker doing
excavation at Bova Huta earns, at the sort, 700 zl per month; he id sore
apt to earn about 400 7.1. The problem of work norms has not Yet been solved.
There is a gap between rules and practice.
14. The forma- occasionally inspects to see how many cubic meters of earth have
been excavated and what tools the vorker is axing. The Labor Discipline
Clerk also comes toiinspect - on a fine day when the constrnctioln site is
not maddy.
15. "There is lunch recess at 1:00 P.M. The construction workere cat in a -
toen. They queue up for a bowl of soups and a plate of meat, cabbode and
potatoes. If Bogucki has the money he My buy some beer at the butt at at the
construction site before returning to work.
16. ,if the szcavationproject is urgent, he will work overtime, until 7 or 8 PM.
Because there are so few workers overtime work is often applied!' The workers
usually take advantage of this: they 'go slow' during their regular hours ands
begfn the real work at 4:00 PM. Bogucki works with a trap doing piece work,
so he works hard to earn more.
17. "Normally he leaves at 3:30 P.M. to go hose. If the trews and buses are run-
ning it will take him more than an hour to get back to Plashov.
18. "Co o meetings: Practically every, other de-.y Bogucki is delayed after
work by a compulsory. meting: for the League of Soldiers' Friends, the Polish-
Soviet Friendship Society, a production meeting, etc. The typical, work weak
for Bogucki may have the following schedule:
Mk-day: Work-eight hours, short half-hour meeting about lagging
production.
Tuesday: Work-eight hours, League of Soldiers' Friends ? two hour
Wednesday: Work-eight hours plus two hours overtime. No nesting.
Thursday: Work-eight hours. Meeting on the fulfillment or, the
yearly plan of the Associated Construction Industries
of Kowa Buta, resulting in a pledge to exceed the tiov-
ember norms - 1. hours.
Friday: Work-eight hours. Production session - five hours.
8atrxday: Work six hours plus tiro hours overtime. Workers' ,meting
on price reduction, hold by the P.O.?., Basic :arty
Organization - three hour,3.
19. "Meetings plague the Polish citizen. Thane are parents' m etings at school,
kindergartens and nurseries; workers' ineetingel production meetings; meetings
of the League of Soldiiro' Friends, the Polish Soviet Friendship Society) the
Mtutual Loan and Aid Association; Union aaet.ngs, social council meetings etc.
Persons who interest themselves in social work my find themselves involved
in three meetings a day. People don't take the obligate, meetings no serious-
ly as they used ttl.
20. "Drinksg: There is only one onell advantage ?bo these workers'I meetings.
FJhen the men get together to drink after payday, which is their habit, their
winces may think they are delayed at another meeting. Drinking has spread
widely. People try to drown. their wo" les. People cannot afford to cat
which they drink, so they get drunk q..ackly.
21. "Fans problems: Boguoki Seto hose at last to his dinner, perhaps beet soup
with pooes, a piece of sausage, cabbage, potatoes and buck ieoffee. His
wife grusvles that she stood in line three hours to get meat, onnly to find
ca~Fm~rrlAi
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that it vas all sold out. She bad to calk into Krakow o get broad, be.
cause the local stores inPls.how livers sold out in the afternoon. She
bought her husband' a pair of ratty socks - 24 si - because she saw thee, and
wars socks are bard to find. If it soon not enough food amy,'she cma
resell thea to a neighbour at a profit. Every night it is the sage:
money problts. If it vere not for the sssetings Bogucki amt be able to
Work two shifts, but he would be sr= hasvily taxed.
22. "Children's scho : The elder daughter got out of school at j400 pm.
GROW a cosSpnlsocy'aeetiag of the Union of Polish You.A (sip). She gets
a scholarship of 120 zl sgnthly and is doing well, But-son of is
mosey can be saved: 10.50 sl goes for her tray tickets, 30 al for bus
tickets and the rest for living expenses. School ettsidaacs is comsulaory,
and parents are liable to fines if their children do not shoe up If a
child has only onepair of a osand has to stay bone Mhilo they are bei
repaired, that is :
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