By TOM MORRIS

TOGLIATTI, USSR — It seem right that a city only 25 years old should be a city of young people.

With its sparkling new buildings, extensive green belts, wide streets and the sprawling Volga (VAZ) Auto Works, Togliatti is a model of planning and efficiency. And its citizens’ average age is 29 years.

From the moment we stepped off the two-hour flight from Moscow this fact was constantly evident. VAZ officials Valery Timonin and Valeri Bikov were a wealth of information and enthusiasm. They knew almost every detail of their city, of VAZ and of the rich history of their region. :

They of course knew that the Lada automobile which rolls off the line at the rate of one every 22 seconds isa hit in Canada as it is in 84 other countries which import it.

Impressive Complex

When the Soviet Government decided in 1966 to build a major passenger automobile complex, Togliatti re- ceived the nod over 40 other centres due to its proximity to raw materials, electrical power and access via the Volga river to all regions.

In 1967 work began on the plant and, by 1970, the first Lada rolled off the line. The one millionth car was produced in 1973 and by 1974 the plant reached its design output of 660,000 cars per year or 2,230 cars per day. (General Motors, Oshawa, for example, produces 1,792 passenger cars per day),

Of the eight models produced, including the nifty 4x4 Niva, 35 per cent are exported. I spent a few hair-raising seconds hanging on as a driver took one through its paces on the 2.5 km test track before it was okayed and tagged for shipment to Denmark.

Those are some VAZ Statistics, there are others: the complex has 170 kilometres of assembly lines, comprises five interrelated shops with 24,000 units of production machinery.

Five hundred air conditioners keep the climate con- stant year round and VAZ’s computer centre, one of the largest in the USSR, keeps the entire complex running smoothly.

Its canteen feeds an entire shift (40,000) within 15 minutes allowing the rest of the lunch hour to be spent at will. Conference and recreation halls, games rooms, lib-

‘raries and films are handy, or the worker can simply relax, chat and have a smoke.

The VAZ plant runs two 8'4 hour shifts daily for its

100,000 workers, 44 per cent of whom are women. The work week is five days.

The People Count But the main thing, Valeri Bikov explained, isn’t as- sembly lines, punch presses or computers. ‘‘The main

thing is people.”

_In the plant the workers make the decisions. They discuss every aspect of the work — production plans, organization, working conditions, management, skill upgrading and education, social life as well as day-to-day problems.

“The operational life of VAZ is the sum total of the workers’ opinions,” Timonin told me. This was borne. out later during a chat with trade union spokespersons during a break.

“Everyone can speak up at production meetings,”’ one young man stressed. ‘‘Then teams of collectives control the decisions. Work brigades, each with its own elected leadership, keep a continual check on decisions and tackle new problems as they arise.’’

And grievances? ‘‘There is a time, every day, open to everyone to raise a grievance or problem,” the union representative explained. ‘‘Each question is considered and then passed along to the appropriate group for im- mediate solution.”” Each week the trade union represen- tatives, Communist Party leadership (14,700 members at VAZ) and management meet, go over plans and prob- lems and then “get on with the job’’.

‘Privileged Class’

“The job’’, for people who control their own lives entirely, means many things. The unions are involved in just about everything. We dropped in to a spanking new “‘prevention’’ hospital which receives 1,000 workers per day offering every imaginable service against work-re- lated stress.

It’s union-operated and a worker can receive various forms of care from ‘‘drop-in’’ to 24-day treatment paying one-eleventh of the actual cost for 24 days ($20). The complex treats heart, lung, stomach and nervous disor-

Home of the Lada a new, modern,

yout

One new car rolls off the line each 22 seconds destined for the Soviet con- sumer and those in 85 foreign coun- tries. The plant’s 100,000 workers not only work there, but run the operation.

ders. It has a huge dance hall, cinemas, swimming pools and other sports facilities.

hful c

There’s much more to Togliatti, a fast-growing city of f 600,000 settled in stunning natural surroundings on the

VOLGA AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATED WORKS

ity

Togliatti’s spanking new buildings, green belts, broad streets make this new city one of the most popular in the USSR. It’s also a city of youth with an average age of 29 years.

Another VAZ-run facility is a huge sports complex in which 1,700 workers train daily. It has seven different sports halls, a large ice rink and is the home of the popular Torpedoes hockey team. The main arena seats 5,000 and the complex can incorporate 17,000 people daily at peak. There is a staff of 200 and 85 coaches on duty.

And a young city has legions of children. Eighty-four kindergartens and day care centres function at a cost to

the parents of $18 a month per child. Here the kids get

four meals daily plus full medical and dental care and a rich cultural grounding. It’s great to be a kid in the USSR

and the young people are fondly called ‘‘the new privileged class’’.

banks of the mighty Volga. People are active — 646 sports clubs cover a range of activities from sky diving to sailing, from auto racing (of course) to skiing. :

It boasts a polytechnical institute, several technical schools, teachers’ college, music college and even a navigational school. Lovely beaches and pine forests are

within five minutes by car or bus. * * *

I guess the entire visit to ‘‘auto city’’ came together |

one evening when we enjoyed the hospitality of a young — family. Both are autoworkers at VAZ. We talked of the future, of our work and our troubles. We toasted one another and world peace. We found we had everything in common.

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They are torturing people...’

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada — A letter, written in November and smuggled out of a prison on the island tells of the horrors of U.S. occupation. While some of the points raised in the letter written by a member of the New Jewel Movement have subsequently been revealed, it gives additional details on the plight both of prisoners and the population at large.

Fraternal greetings: oe

I want to inform you of the terrible situation in our country and the illegality of the U.S. invasion which is a gross violation of international law. see e

The invading troops carried out indiscriminate bombings, many people have died. It has arrested

rested John Vertour, leader of the Grenadian Trade Union Council and Chester Humphrey, vice- president of the Technical and Allied Workers Union. They are paving the way to smash the trade union movement. 7

The invaders are now an occupying army. They are camped in every major village, in schools and com- munity centres. They conduct house-to-house searches terrorizing citizens who oppose the invasion.

The U.S. has arrested officers of the People’s Rev- olutionary Government and of the New Jewel Move- ment and keeps them under the most harsh condi- tions. It was only after Red Cross intervention that our lives became bearable. :

e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JANUARY 18, 1984

A letter from Grenada’s jails

hundreds who opposed the invasion. They have ar- .

seit

While holding us, the occupiers have launched a most vicious and unbelievable hysterical campaign. They are preparing the ground for a kangaroo trial in an atmosphere of hostility.

They have prevented lawyers from visiting us and — refuse us the right to defence counsel of our own choosing. zZ

U.S. and Barbadian troops have been torturing per- sons to sign false statements. Lt.-Col. Ewart Layne was tortured for 14 hours on Nov. 16 by Barbadian police and forced to sign a prepared statement. Major Chris Stroud was tortured on Nov. 15 by Barbadians and forced to sign a statement of lies, as were Captain Lester Redhead, Lt. Iman Abdullah, Glen Moses and — Allister George.

Since the invasion Grenada’s adult education pro- gram has been abolished and they plan to do the same 7 with our state trade body. They are using criminals to paint hate slogans on walls condemning the detainees.

I ask you to make these crimes known so that an ; international campaign may be launched. I also ask : that international human rights groups be informed of _ these atrocities. I would also like to say that, despite all, the com-

4 4

rades are in good spirits because we know the truth _ will emerge even though it may take one, two or three _ years.

Greetings to all comrades and friends. I ask that all : be done to stop the U.S. plan to ‘‘Chileanize’”’ Gre- — nada. All the best. : :