Everything for the People of Albania

     The "Naim Frashëri" Publishing House, Tirana, 1973.

http://ciml.250x.com/archive/albania.html

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     Work is the basis of the existence of society; it gives man the upper hand over nature, over its inexhaustible forces and resources.

No trace of unemployement in Albania

     One may run across Albanian emigrants in many countries of the world. They had been forced to abandon their homes in the years before liberation and seek work in foreign lands. At that time about 59 per cent of the Albanian labor power was unemployed. Today, in Albania this scourge, which affetes all the capitalist societies without exception, has been wiped out once and for all.

     The right to work was the most important social-economic right guaranteed to Albanian workers after the establishment of the People's Power. It is closely linked with the nature of the socialist order. In Albania, the working masses are not only masters of the political power, but also of the principal means of production.

     The People's Power by law and by its economic system guarantees the right to work to all persons. As provided by the Constitution and Labor Code, every citizen of the People's Republic of Albania enjoys the right to work in state administration or economic enterprises, institutions or organizations. Any violation of the right to work is considered a breach of law and is met by severe punishment. 

     One of the most important means of guaranteeing work is the contract which is based on the free agreement of both parties: the workers, on the one hand, and the representative of the enterprise, institution or organization, on the other. The worker or employee is obliged to go about his job or task in a given place of work according to his profession or trade, whereas the institution, enterprise or organization is obliged to pay him according to his day to day work or according to his set salary as well as to ensure proper working conditions. 

     Anyone above 15 years of age, as foreseen by labor legislation, is eligible for work. Any work contract with underage persons constitutes a breach of law and therefore is null and void.

     Labor legislation also provides a series of limitations for the admission of adults into jobs that, owing to their nature are ill-suited to their health.

     The legislation has special provisions concerning women workers. Women are not permitted to work in places harmful to their health, such as mines, oil wells, metallurgic furnaces, etc.

     Albanian citizens enjoy the right to work according to their profession and specialization without any discrimination. The state is especially interested in settling workers into posts where they can apply their qualifications to the best of their ability. Labor legislation includes special arrangements regulating the cases of transfer from one center of work or location, to another. These regulations are designed to avoid the irrational handling of the labor force, or the shifting of cadres without sound reasons, etc.

 
     At the same time, the administration of an enterprise, institution or organization is granted the right to transfer workers from one job to another when the needs and interests of production require it, as well as when a lighter job should be given to the workers in case of disability, illness, etc. 

     The socialist system has created the necessary economic conditions for work efficiency which does not exist in capitalist countries. As is known, the Albanian socialist economy is not subject to crises and anarchy in production which result in shutting the doors of enterprises to hundreds and thousands of workers as is the case in capitalist countries. The planned Albanian economy uninterruptedly develops in harmony with the national interests and the interests of the masses of working people.

     The continual growth of work productivity due to technological and organizational innovations releases part of the production forces in some enterprises; but for these forces there are always new work fronts that are being opened up by the People's Power.

     The planning of the economy enables the state to ensure work for all able-bodied persons according to their professions. A correct ratio between the growth of the labor force and the needs of the whole country's economy is maintained by the harmonious process of extensive socialist reproduction, always bearing in mind the interests of the future development of the people's economy in every region of the country.

     Along with the construction of socialism, the disappearance of pronounced inequalities in the development of the various regions of the country has also been achieved. This is linked with the development of the labor forces in every region. Each district in the People's Republic of Albania has its own economic, state and cooperativist enterprises, construction sites and cultural institutions.

     As a result of this policy, the number of workers has been steadily increasing. Thus, during, the 1950-1970 period the number of workers in the state sector alone increased from 82,642 to 392,282, i. e. by 558.5 per cent.

Albanian workers cannot be arbitrarily sacked

     In capitalist countries, the employer has the power to throw the workers into the street, while in Albania this never happens any more. The unlawful dismissal of a worker by the administration is considered an infringement of labor legislation. In such cases, the organs dealing with conflicts of work immediately return the worker to his former job and, in cases of grave infringements of labor legis-lation by employers, disiplinary or penal measures are taken against them.

     The limitation imposed upon the administrations of enterprises, institutions or organizations concerning the right to disolve work contracts of workers or employees stand as a proof of the juridical stability of the labor relations. Every worker or employee is well aware of the fact that the law defends his right to work against any bureaucratic distortion.

     The law provides the right to retire a worker or employee when he is old enough to receive his old age pension, that is, when the worker or the employee has come of age and has served the number of years provided by law on social insurance. The administration can dissolve a worker's work contract when he does not fulfill some necessary conditions, such as inatitude to perform his task, lack of necessary professional knowledge, or for moral or political reasons.

     As provided by law, the dissolution of work contracts can also occur when the worker, as a result of his disability, fails to fulfil his norm or task under normal conditions. When the norms of production are not fulfilled because the administration has not created normal working conditions, the work contract cannot be dissolved.

     In many cases, failure to perform his contract obligations are due to the condition of health of the worker. The dismissal of a worker from work for. such reasons is not permitted. In such cases the enterprise has to find a more suitable job according to the condition of the worker's health. If the worker, despite his aliment, fulfils his task according to the requirements foreseen by the contract, the administration has no right to dismiss him. An exception from this rule is when the worker is employed in a food processing enterprise in a kindergarten, prophylactic institution, etc. where his disease might be harmful to the health of the population. 

     The competent health organizations, in accordance with the regulations established for this purpose cope with any person's inability to work for health reasons.

     In many enterprises, institutions or organizations there exist such tasks, which, owing to their nature, require persons of complete moral and political integrity. Thus, for example, a teacher may be highly qualified from the professional point of view, but he cannot live up to his tasks if his moral and political level is not at a high standard. Upon first examination, it may seem as if such failures have no bearing on his profession, but in fact, such a teacher cannot successfully accomplish his function and have the moral right to educate the youth, therefore his work contract must be disolved. Many other posts of work are liable to require such exacting requirements.

     The dissolution of the worker's contract in all these cases is unavoidable, for he lacks the necessary conditions to perform his task as foreseen by the Labor Code.

     The administration can dissolve a worker's or employee's work contract when he fails to perform his task for more than six consecutive months owing to health reasons. It cannot dissolve his contract though, if the worker, although suffering from one or more diseases lasting six months, has gone about his work at various intervals during this period. Another regulation stipulated by law is that a worker's or employee's contract may be dessolved during the period of illness, but never after recovery and resumption of work. An exception is made for women after child-birth. The right of the admintration to dissolve a woman's work contract, according to the above can only be exercised when she has consumed her post-natal paid leave (45 days), her three months unpaid leave and the six-month period required by article 65 of the Labor Code.

     It should be pointed out that the dissolution of a work contract is a right which the administration seldom uses. The administration has the right to preserve the post of the sick during their period of illness, if this does not impede normal work. The organs investigating labor problems always bear in mind these requirements of the law and verify whether a dissolved work contract or the absence of the worker has any effect on the normal activity of the enterprise, institution or organization. 

     The rigorous definitions applied to cases the administration can cancel a workers' contract prevent any kind of abuse and preserves the job for the worker. On the other hand, it should be stressed that, in all the above mentioned cases, the administration upon dissolving a worker's contract is obliged to find another appropriate job for him.

     In Albania, there are very few cases when an enterprise, institution or organization is closed down or when the labor force needs curtailment. In such cases the administration is entitled to dissolve a worker's contract. But, it has the duty to accomodate the worker in another job at the same or another enterprise. In cases of reorganization, the administration does not have the right to annul the workers contract, but should move them to the new enterprise, institution or organization created after reorganization.

Workday

     Work is no longer a heavy burden as it was in the past. Under the anti-popular regimes, the Albanian worker had to work about 12 hours a day, whereas in enterprises applying shift work as in Kuçova, Selenica and elsewhere, workers had to put in as many as 14-16 work hours a day. In other sectors, in cafes, restaurants, bakeries, etc., there was no fixed time and no free day off.

     With the liberation of the country, a work-time limit was fixed and sanctioned by law.

     There are now eight - and seven hour work days (the latter for night shifts) for which workers are paid the same wages. Young people under eighteen work six hours a day, while for some categories of workers engaged in underground or other strenuous work harmful to their health, as well as for certain categories of intellectual workers (education, health, etc.). the normal work-time is cut down to five hours a day without reduction of pay.

     Workers attending secondary evening schools. work only 45 hours a week; those attending higher learning evening courses work only seven hours a day during the courses, while those studying for al degree work only 6 hours a day. Women with babies up to nine months old are granted an interval of half an hour every four hours to feed them. In all such cases they are paid as for a normal eight-hour workday.

     Labor legislation in the People's Republic of Albania provides for the possibility that, in special cases, if he gives his consent, the worker may be engaged beyond the normal worktime for the needs of production. In order to protect the health of the: workers the law has fixed an overtime work limit to no more than 180 hours a year. 

     The worktime fixed by law is aimed at protecting the people at work as well as creating the necessary conditions for a broader participation of the workers in the political, cultural and social life of the country.

Holidays of workers and their families

     Besides the right to work, the People's Power guarantees the workers the right to rest. All workers and employees are entitled to a daily rest of 16 hours and a weekly 36 hours uninterrupted rest which usually includes Saturday afternoon and Sunday. As well, there are official holidays such as the Day of the Proclamation of Independence (November 28, 1912), the Proclamation of the Republic (January, 11, 1945), the May Day, the Day of the Liberation of the Fatherland (November 29, 1944), of the October Socialist Revolucion (November 7, 1917) and New Year's Day.

     Workers are given an annual paid leave of 12 workdays, while a teenagers' leave lasts as long as 24 workdays. Workers engaged in more than 70 difficult jobs, such as mining, metalurgical, and tanning industries, tobacco, cement, and glass factories, brick kilns, oil refineries and printing presses, workers of infectious diseases' wards and psychiatrie hospitals, of educational, cultural scientific and other institutions are all entitled to an extra paid leave lasting from 3 to 36 workdays a year.

     The law on social insurances provides for assistance to be given to workers in need of a prolonged paid leave on top of their usual one to spend their holidays at health centers, sanatoria, or spas. This kind of assistance is intended for people who have recovered from consumption or psychiatric disorders, and for those suffering from rheumatism, kidney trouble, etc. The worker or employee is also entitled to his full paid leave when he is moved from one enterprise or institution to another.

     Special care is taken to see that Albanian workers pass their holidays in a cultured and active way. Living in a country of rare natural beauty, they rest among pine woods high up in the mountains, on the fringe of beach groves by glacial lakes, or at the seaside, especially on the Adriatic beach famous for its fine sands where the sun never fails to shine for months on end. Or, they can sojourn on the renowned Ionian coast where they can breathe the pure air of the mountain and sea breezes merged with the fragrance of citrus and olive groves, pines and cypress trees. Sanatoria, rest homes, tourist centers and resting homes are built on these spots for the workers and their children to pass their holidays. 

     And the number of such institutions, totally unknown before liberation, grow with every passing year. Thus, during the 1950-1969 period, the capacity of resting places for workers and yourg pioneers has increased over three times.

     Tens of thousands of workers, children and pensioners rest every year in these institutions, which are run by trade union organizations.

     For his stay of 13-25 days (depending on his kind of work) in these rest homes, the worker has to pay only one third of the cost. The rest of expenses are met by the state. To be more explicit, the sum paid by the worker for the period of his rest (food and board included) is equal to one-sixth of the average monthly salary of the worker (during his leave the worker is entitled to his full salary from the enterprise where he is employed).

     Rest homes in Albania are centers of education and entertainment as well, where various cultural and sports activities are organized as another aspect of the workers holidays.

     Children are generally sent to pioneers' rest homes. Besides these, thanks to the care of the organs of the People's Power and of the mass organizations in enterprises, agricultural cooperatives, schools and districts, hundreds of recreation daycamps with food provided, tourist centers and playgrounds, have been set up both in towns and villages.

     Villas, hotels and tourist centers have been set. up at climatic spots and placed at the disposal of the workers. Any worker, whatever the kind of work he carries out can go to a rest place alone or with his family. They may spend their holidays at the most. modern hoes at the beach at Durrës, or elsewhere.

     Cultural centers, palaces of culture, libraries, reading halls, cinemas, etc., are all frequented by workers during their free time. The broad artistic amateur movement of the working class in Albania embraces all branches of art. Theatre and song festivals are organized in all the districts and on a nation-wide scale.

     Special care is shown for the physical education. of the workers by the trade union organizations which carry out mass sports activities. At the country's most picturesque spots, the trade union onganizations have set up tourist centres which attract hundreds and thousands of excursionists from the towns.

Labor safety

     No labor safety measures were ever taken in Albania before liberation. Accidents were common, especially in mines. Shortly after beginning work, many workers contracted tuberculosis, rheumatism and other occupational diseases.

     A similar situation exists today in the capitalist countries. The worker is  considered as a machine, or "live robot". Piece-work and its intensification, has made the workingmen real slaves of the machines. Instead of improving their working conditions and living standard the mechanization of industry has shackled the workers with double exploitation.

     In the People's Republic of Albania, labor safety and the protection of the life and health of the workers is considered one of the fundamental principles of the socialist organization of work, as part and parcel of the state economie plans with the aim to improving the conditions of work, preventing accidents and occupational diseases. The state allocates special funds to enterprises, institutions or organizations for the application of measures concerning labor safely. The responsibilities of the managerial body for breaches of labor safety regulations have been enforced by law.    

     The economic planners are obliged by the Labor Code and other regulations to organize the process of production in such a way as to protect the health of the workers.

     In fact, the rapid industrialization of the country is being carried out on the basis of the latest deve. lopment of science and technology and, as a consequence, factories, industrial installations, printing. presses and other projects in the process of construction are provided with all the necessary means of technical security and labor safety. As for accidents at work, Albania stands much better than its neighboring countries and the other European states do, whereas occupational diseases are no longer any problem thanks to the protective measures applied everywhere. 

     Despite these successes, the following measures are applied to guarantee the proper hygienic and technical conditions at work:

     Enterprises can be commissioned, start production or transferred to another place only with permission of the State Health Inspectorate, or the Labor Safety Inspectorate of the trade union organizations.

     The production, sale and operation of new machines and tools are only permitted when they are fitted with protective devices, comply with the technical safety regulations, and are completely safe for the health of the workers.

     It is the duty of the enterprises to ensure proper technical and hygienic conditions through such measures as purification of the air from pollution, from poisonous gases and particles adequate ventilation and illumination, and by maintaining a normal temperature in factories.

     Over 120 million leks are spent each year for the supply of thousands of workers with clothes and means free of charge to clean themselves especially in those technological processes where clothes are very frequently worn out or soiled. Thus, workers of the oil industry enterprises are given special clothes and shoes every four or six months a year.

     Those working in environments polluted with poisonous gases and vapors are given half a litre of milk every day, adding some 30 million leks to the above amount. Those working in high temperature surroundings are served carbonated mineral water.

     Special state organs invested with broad powers, such as the Inspectorates of work safety, technical security and hygiene are set up to supervise the implementation of the relevant regulations. And it is the right of the individual worker as well as of the mass organizations, especially, of the trade unions, to exercise their control over the enforcement of the labor safety regulations.

     A characteristic feature of the Albanian labor safety system is that is provides for a series of measures designed to facilitate and to make work completely safe for the workers. And the mechanization and automatization of production is the chief way to attain this goal.

Distribution According to Work

     The socialist principle: equal pay for equal work, regardless of sex or race, is fully applied in the People's Republic of Albania, this principle being embodied in the Constitution as well as in the Labor Code. Article 34 of the code reads: "The worker or employee is renumerated according to the quantity and equality of work done."

     The correct application of distribution according to quantity and quality of work done ensures the material interest of the workers for the increase of production and the improvement of its quality, for the rise of work productivity and the lowering of costs, which constitute the principal factors for the continual increase of the living standards of the working masses.

     The most important means for the application of distribution according to work done is the system of wages. In Albania, wages are the monetary expression of that part of the total social production which is distributed by the state among workers and employees in compliance with the law of distribution according to the quantity and quality of the work done, and serves to satisfy their material and cultural needs.

     In compliance with the requirements of the fundamental economic law of socialism and of the law of distribution according to the quantity and quality of work done, the Albanian State plans the total fund of wages as well as their amount for every category of workers, according to the various. branches of the people's economy. The amount of this fund depends on the level attained by the development of the forces of production and the productivity of social work. The rise of work productivity increases both the part of the general product designed for the further expansion of production and the part destined for consumption. Thus, the higher the level of work productivity, the higher the level of the wages. But the rise of work productivity should be greater than the increase of wages. Only thus is it possible to ensure such an expansion of production as to bring about the systematic increase of that part of social production which goes for the fulfilment of the needs of the working masses.

     The system of wages is constructed in such a way as to calculate best the quantity and the quality of work done by the worker. In calculating the workers' and employees' wages the Government, proceeds not only from the kind and category of work, but also from the differences existing between heavy and light work, skilled and unskilled work as well as from the importance of the work. Labor legislation provides greater compensation for workers of heavy work in comparison to those employed in light work so as to make is possible for those engaged in difficult work to recover the extra energy they have consumed at work. In the system of wages, the qualification of the worker, his level of education, the contribution of the worker to increased work productivity are first taken into account.

 
     Youngsters under sixteen are especially favored by the labor legislation. Besides the wages for their work done each day (6 hours), they are also entitled to a supplementary pay, equally to the extra two work-hour's pay a day.

     In some cases, when the worker or the employee for some particular reason does not work in his post, he is paid by the enterprise, institution or organization where he is permanently employed. The cases when the worker or the employee has the right to draw his wage from the enterprise, even when he does not work for a certain period, are: when. attending the sessions of the People's Assembly or of the people's councils in the capacity of people's representative; when dischanging the function of a people's judge, when called upon as witness or expert by the court or the organs of investigation and when taking part as a delegate at congresses, conferences and plenums. This allows the workers to participate in the political and social life of the country. Even in cases when the worker or the employee does not work because production is interrupted, and for which he is not responsible, the institution, enterprise or organization is bound to pay him half of his wages if it does not find him another job as provided for by the regulations. 

     Persons sent on trips for business to other towns are paid for both fares and expenses for board and lodging as well as for the work done. Transferred workers get paid for transportation expenses of their furniture and members of their family. When a worker or employee has unjustly has his work contract dissolved the enterprise, institution or organization has the obligation to grant him a compensation which, should not exceed his wages or monthly salary. 

     The salary, wages or any sort of remuneration the worker or the employee receives from the enterprise or organization wherein he works is the fruit of the labor he has accomplished for the fulfilment of the tasks he has been assigned to, and therefore, can never be reduced or curtailed.

     Labor legislation in the People's Republic of Albania, with its norms defining the amount of compensation the worker or employee is entitled to, on one hand, completely guarantees the compensation of every worker in work relations and, on the other, fights in an organized way againt petty-bourgeois tendencies of getting more from and giving less to the society, against manifestations of laziness, selfcomfort, against every sort of formalism and red-tape impeding the march forward of the society.

     The various forms of remuneration of work applied in the sectors of the people's economy are: piece-work remuneration (according to norms, which might be collective or individual), remuneration for a planned task and remuneration for a given worktime.

     Remuneration for piece-work is more wide-spread.

     During recent years, economies in the countryside and town are applying collective norms. This is an advanced form in the socialist organization of work, because it develops the spirit of collectivism, raises the role of the masses in the solution of organizational, technological and economic problems of production and assists the further revolutionization of the political consciousness of the workers, etc. This ensures closer cooperation among the workers, and more correct links between the personal and collective interest, etc.

     The worker is concerned with increasing the quantity and the improvement of the quality of production both at the enterprise and national level.

     The society's prosperity has a direct bearing on the rise of the workers' wellbeing, which is attained through increase of wages and price reductions.

For a more correct ratio between high wages and average wages of workers

     The establishment of correct wages for workers, without levelling them, is of major importance because it has to do with correct relations among workers and leading cadres. Accentuated discrepancies in wages detach the leading cadres and the intelligentsia from the masses, overemphasizes office work and fosters scorn for production work, gives birth to tendencies of self-comfort, places personal interests above collective interests, prepares the ground for bourgeois and revisionist degeneration. That is the reason why the system of wages has been revised, amended and improved six times in succession during the period from 1947 to 1957. As a result, there was established a system of insignificant differences between higher and lower wages.

     Nevertheless, due to certain historical conditions, up until recently some abnormalities have been observed in the system of payment. The lack of cadres. forced the People's Power to create some stimuli for the leading cadres. Besides this, some mistakes were also committed in this direction.

     In recent years, a series of measures were adopted with the aim of further adjusting the ratio of wages by narrowing down the difference between higher and lower wages and by improving socialist relations in distribution. The wages of high functionaries, including those of State and Party leaders, were lowered. At the same time, the lower wages and pensions were raised.

     The new system of wages was enforced on September 1, 1967, after being purged of excessive material incentives. The funds saved by the curtailment of the material stimuli went into regulation the workers' wages in some branches of the economy. Alongside the measures aimed at narrowing the differences between wages and abolishing the system of taxation, a new system of categorization of workers' qualifications was established. The ratio of wages between the various categories of workers was improved. As a result, the lowest wages were raised by 8 percent, in some other branches they increased up to 20 percent, thus further improving the ratio, between higher and lower salaries, the former being lowered from 2.1 to 1.71 percent.

     In tackling the problem of eradicating abnormalities in the system of wages, the People's Power does not proceed from tendencies of equalization, always taking into account simple and managerial work, unqualified and qualified work. It is guided by the principle that the uplift of the living standards of the individual members of the socialist society are dependent and closely linked with the general rise of the population's wellbeing.

     Thus, without slipping into the policy of levelling wages, the law to everyone according to his work is being applied in conformity with the average living standards of the workers.

     The buying power of workers wages in the People's Republic of Albania has been raised as a result of successive price reductions, abolishment of taxation, the disappearance of unemployement, etc. Thus, if we take the average wages of the year 1950 as one hundred percent, in the year 1969 they were 163, i. e., 12 percent higher.

     Workers' wages do not constitute the only source of their incomes. The state gives them supplementary sums through various channels such as social insurances, pensions, bursaries, scholarships, paid leaves, compensations for those pursuing their studies, free health services. etc. The income from these sources add one third to the total workers' incomes.