Rural workers. Hired agricultural worker What is a hired worker called in agriculture?

Rural workers

Rural workers in the proper sense are those persons who take a direct part in agriculture with their labor by placing their labor power under a contract of hire at the disposal of entrepreneurs in the agricultural industry for a certain fee, whereby the latter is their exclusive or at least the main source of funds to existence. These features distinguish rural peasantry from slaves and serfs, who work for the landowner under compulsion, from the independent peasant who lives on income from his own plot, and from the handicraft worker and factory proletarian, employed in branches of production other than agriculture. It also follows from the above definition that rural R. in its own way social status (wages- the main source of food) should be considered only as one of the divisions of the working class in general. In addition to rural farming in the proper sense, in many countries there is also a large contingent of people who, although they resort to agricultural work for hire, but, owning plots of land themselves as property or lease, look at wages only as an auxiliary source of income, and not as the main one. This category of people, related to rural R. in the broad sense, represents a transitional group between completely independent peasants and rural R. in the narrow sense. Time of occurrence rural workers as special social class should be attributed in most countries to the time of the fall of serfdom, in which landowners, using forced labor, had almost no need for hired workers, and almost every farmer was endowed with a certain amount of land. Only since the abolition of serfdom has it become possible to dispossess a part of the peasantry (see Peasants) - on the one hand, and to develop farms with hired labor - on the other. The rapid change after the liberation of the peasants contributed to both economic relations: development large industry, the decline of rural industries, a decrease in local additional, non-agricultural earnings. Distribution of rural workers into separate categories By various signs seems far from being as sharp and defined as the distribution of industrial workers. The insignificance of the division of labor and division of occupations in agriculture often leads to the fact that within the same household the same persons are employed, in turn, in field farming, meadow husbandry, horse breeding, cattle breeding, sheep breeding, pig breeding, vegetable gardening and horticulture, and sometimes in the processing of various agricultural products (cheese making, butter making, etc.). However, this state of affairs has begun to change recently. Individual industries are distinguished not only from the same economy, but are also isolated territorially (cattle breeding in Texas, wheat fields in the Dakotas, sheepfolds in Australia, strawberry fields near New York, dairy farms in Holland, butter factories in Canada, etc.). In accordance with this, the situation of rural workers also changes, beginning to be grouped into special professional categories. Many changes have been and are also being made by the increasing use of machines in agriculture. Unevenness of demand in a hired labor By seasons(see R. time in agriculture) determines the division of rural R. according to the terms of employment. Permanent or deadline workers (farmers) are hired for a more or less long period of time, live on the farm, and usually receive accommodation, food and food from the farm determined by agreement the amount of money for a year or for a period of work, obliging, for his part, to perform all the work assigned by the farm. The relative number of term R. in the farm depends mainly on the size of the farm and the greater or less rationality of its management. Typically, permanent workers are retained primarily to care for livestock, and all draft work is performed by temporary workers. A special type of term workers are settled workers: they receive premises for the family, a certain amount of land for a vegetable garden, potatoes, flax and the right to keep a cow to feed the owner, obliging to appear for all work for a daily wage specified in the contract according to the calculation for the husband, wife and single worker whom they must support in their family sedentary R. This type of hiring is common in Germany; in Russia it is almost never found. All those handmade, for the production of which the farm does not have enough deadlines, are performed by temporary workers, piecework or daily wages. Piece workers are hired preferably before day laborers, mainly for work that is easily controlled by count or measure (harvesting grain, mowing, harvesting root crops, sunflowers, corn, digging ditches, shearing sheep, transporting livestock owned by the workers themselves). day laborers, receiving remuneration for the time they work, they undertake to perform all work as directed by the owner for a certain number of hours a day: from 10 to 12 in the summer and from 6 to 8 in the winter. The need for this type of worker in privately owned farms is determined mainly by the extraordinary accumulation of work that requires urgent execution (haymaking and grain harvesting) during certain short periods of time. The main contingent of day laborers usually consists of neighboring peasants with little land; therefore, in most cases, day laborers are paid only in money, on their food. A special type of day laborer is found in sparsely populated areas newcomers R., coming from more populated areas at the time of intensified work. Yes, from Central Russia R. are sent to the south and beyond the Volga to harvest hay and grain and for other work. The Rhine R. are sent to the Black Forest for a while; R. come to East Prussia from Russia. When hiring such workers and there are no significant settlements near them, the farm must, of necessity, provide them with grub and provide them with premises. In the southern climate a considerable number of permanent workers can be kept; in the north, where the period of work is shorter, daily hiring on a large scale is necessary in spring and autumn. Abundant harvest also sometimes causes an extreme need for temporary workers, and the significance of this factor seems all the greater since, given the current state of meteorological knowledge, neither R. nor entrepreneurs can predict in advance in what area and in what quantity more labor will be needed. Many of the villages R. (in the broad sense) have small plots of land on the right of ownership or lease. Hence the distribution of rural R. into the categories of full “owners,” horseless, landless, homeless, and strays. General conditions, affecting the height wages in general (see Wages), are complicated in agriculture by fluctuations in the level of demand for the labor of rural workers, determined by the time of year, climate and harvest, as well as the cash availability of many of the workers on their own farms. The influence of the last factor is considered by some researchers as a circumstance favorable for rural workers due to their less economic dependence on the employer when concluding a legally free contract. According to others, wages in most such cases are reduced by the entire amount that the worker can complete on his own plot, and the connection with his own plot makes it difficult for workers to choose a more profitable employer, forcing them to sell their labor specifically to local owners. The third factor determining the level of wages in agriculture is the extremely low level of needs of the rural worker. Significance of application in the agricultural industry natural wages also do not remain without a significant influence on the height of the entire wage, and, moreover, due to the low level of the worker’s needs, rather to the disadvantage of him than to his advantage. In favorable years for landowners, when prices for agricultural products are high, employers tend to switch to paying in money; in years of low grain prices, the opposite phenomenon is observed. Forms of wages in kind - supplying workers with food, premises, and sometimes an independent small farm. Lyudogovsky determines the following amount of main food items, which is usually allotted to farm laborers in rationally managed farms per year: rye bread 500-650 pounds, other types of grain (wheat, buckwheat, barley, peas) 150-220 pounds, potatoes 400-1000 pounds ., meat and fish 50-100 pounds, lard and various oils 16-50 pounds, salt 20-50 pounds. per person (except milk, vegetables, etc.). In most cases, food costs are far below this norm, especially for temporary workers. One form of payment in kind is remuneration from the share product. The following remuneration is considered normal: for complete harvesting of grain, without threshing - from 1/15 to 1/9 of the harvest; for threshing - from 1/9 to 1/15 of threshed grain; for complete harvesting of hay from mediocre meadows - 30-40% of the collected hay, from good meadows - 25%; for harvesting potatoes from 1/12 to 1/15 tubers. Introduction agricultural machines greatly reduced the demand for labor and wages. According to the calculations of French agronomists, the use of machines reduces labor costs in France by 25 francs. per year per hectare. The introduction of machine processing begins to eliminate the difference between the position and nature of labor in agriculture and in factories.

Legal and in general social status rural workers are in less favorable conditions than the same situation of the industrial proletariat. Legislation regulating relations between employers and workers in agriculture was created almost everywhere under the influence of completely different conditions than factory legislation. It seeks not so much to protect the economically weaker party in the tenancy agreement, but rather to establish guarantees of compliance with the once concluded contract. This remark also applies to the last of the legislative projects of this kind - the Hungarian one, caused by the colossal reaper strike that swept a significant part of Hungary in the summer of 1897. According to the critic of this project, Krejcsi, the demands of rural workers stated at their congress in February 1897 (precise establishment of the length of the working day, legislative abolition of piecework, prohibition of payment in kind, insurance against illnesses and accidents, establishment of Sunday rest, establishment of agricultural inspections similar to factory inspections, etc.) are satisfied with the project only to the smallest extent.

The Condition of Rural Workers in Western Europe. In England the situation of small landowners and tenants, who turned into hired workers, until the half of the 19th century. it was extremely miserable. In 1863, it was officially recognized that free rural R. eat incomparably worse than criminals deprived of freedom. The weekly amount of food for both turned out to be as follows (according to K. Marx):

Further economic development of England led already in the early 80s to a significant improvement in the living conditions of rural R. The weekly payment to rural R., which in 1770 averaged 7 shillings. 3 pen., rose to 9 shillings by 1850. 7 pence, and in 1880 to 14 shillings; daily with 8 pen. in 1870 it reached 1 shilling. 5 pen. in 1850 and up to 2s. in 1880. Along with the improvement of the situation in rural areas, there was a numerical decrease:

In subsequent periods, the number of rural R. continued to decrease. In 1881 there were only 870,798 people, including 40,346 women, and in 1891 - 780,707 people, of which 756,557 were men. and 24150 women. In 1891, a commission was formed in England to study the life of workers, including rural workers. According to the data she collected, the average weekly wage turned out to be 13 shillings in 1892. 5 2/3 pence, i.e. lower than in 1880, but higher than in the 50s. Since the price of the worker's necessary food products has decreased compared to the previous period:

then we can admit that the real payment is higher than the previous one.

In France, according to official data of 1883, out of 18,758,011 people. of the productive population, 6,915,965 people were employed in agriculture. Of the latter, there were 4,046,164 people. owners, 97835 people senior officials and 2,771,966 people. workers. The average daily wage for rural workers (in francs) is as follows:

The average annual pay for farm laborers does not exceed 290 francs. for an adult shepherd, 324 francs. for an adult farmer, 235 francs. for a woman. Lately, rural France has seen an increase in unemployment due to the introduction of agricultural machinery. However low the pay for agricultural work in France is at present, some improvement is still noticeable compared to the 60s. Thus, according to Schmoller, from 1862 to 1882 the average summer daily wage with food for rural R. increased by 0.16 francs, wages without food - by 0.36, wages for a term worker (annual farm laborer) - by 60 - 70 fr. (20 - 26%), for a female worker - 106 francs. (80%).

IN Germany, according to the fishing census of 1895, with a general decrease in the agricultural population compared to 1882 from 42.51% to 35.74% of the total population, the number of independent owners absolutely increased from 2288033 to 2591725 people, while the number of workers decreased from 5881819 to 5619794 souls. In 1882, rural R. made up 71.41% of the total rural population, owners 27.78% and senior employees 0.81%, in 1895 the same ratios were expressed in the figures of 67.77%, 30.07 and 1.16%. With the introduction of a more rational culture and the use of improved agricultural machinery, more skilled workers are required. The work of ordinary workers has been replaced to a certain extent by the work of machines. The use of the latter has increased quite significantly:

Comparative data for the main German states shows the following minimums and maximums for average annual fees:

If we take all the data showing the ratio in various countries the number of employers and employees, for approximately the same years in percentage, then the following is obtained (Janson):

IN Russia the question of what is more profitable for the landowner - serfdom or hired labor - was raised at the end of the serf era (see Peasants). With the emancipation of the peasants, the supply of labor increased; the land allotment allocated to the peasant family in most cases turned out to be very meager; I had to go and get a job with a landowner. However, the land had been cultivated by peasants with their own implements for so long that moving on to independent organization Hired labor was not easy for the landowner. Hence the widespread use of peasant leases of landowners' lands. Later, land prices began to rise: rental prices also rose, and land surveying became feasible only for wealthy peasants. A change in economic relations within the village itself also led to an increase in the supply of labor. The weakening of some farms was the foundation for the strengthening of others; the strengthening of the latter, in turn, led to an even greater weakening of the former. Those disembodied and landless could only look for outside income, especially since the local handicrafts where they existed began to decline. Wage labor in the middle black earth provinces has become cheaper; the landowner, who did not have time to rent out his land for a more or less high price, became more profitable to cultivate it with hired labor. At the same time, the need for hired labor grew in the south and southeast, where vast expanses of land that had previously served for cattle breeding began to be plowed up. In the late 60s and early 70s, a real labor fever began there; labor prices at “critical moments” in agriculture rose to fabulous heights, and rumors of this attracted crowds of poor people from Central Russia. This movement did not weaken in subsequent years, but took on a more uniform character. It was then that the “rural labor question” arose in Russia. Along with the indicated movement of workers to the south, there was further development rural proletariat and in its homeland, in Central and Northern Russia. Every famine, every shortage of crops, every loss of livestock weakened many peasant owners, deprived them of living implements, made their labor cheaper, and increased their financial need. A significant role in the process of formation of the rural proletariat was played by the disintegration that began after the fall of serfdom due to the divisions of the large family community. In a word, a vast class of hired workers has appeared, the majority of whom receive their means of subsistence not only from the sale of their labor power, but also from their own small plots of land, which do not always pay for the duties on it. There is no more or less accurate data on the number of rural rural areas in Russia. Based on zemstvo household censuses relating to 81 districts of 13 provinces, one of the zemstvo statisticians, S. F. Rudnev, made, however, an attempt to determine the total number of workers for all of Russia. In 25 black earth provinces there are about 10,731,483 men of working age; we can assume that 25% of them are 2,682,870 people. - hired for agricultural work. In 26 non-chernozem provinces there are about 7,124,640 people. working age; about 1/10 of them, or 712,400 people, are usually hired for rural work. Thus, the total number of rural R. is approximately 3,395,000 people. The distribution of the percentage of workers in 81 counties is as follows:

For every 100 men of working age there are agricultural workers:

These R. are subdivided, according to the terminology of the Zemstvo censuses, mainly into farm laborers, mowers and shepherds, day laborers and piecework R. farmhands, or term R., in accordance with the length of the employment period are divided into per annum And semi-annual(otherwise pilots, hired for 5-7 months, from spring to autumn). The named categories of farm laborers, in turn, are divided into local, which are always close to home, and latrines, who cannot take part in their household during the time of suffering. The private farms of families that employ farm laborers are far below average peasant farms.

Peasant farms of 9 districts of the Voronezh province.

Thus, among the families that supply farm laborers, there are more often families that do not cultivate their land, without draft animals and without any livestock. In the Poltava province, farm laborers are supplied by even more disadvantaged families; in Mirgorod district, for example, out of a total number of 2110 farm laborers, 45% came from families with no arable land at all, 26.9% from families with less than 3 dessiatinas of arable land, 24.8% from families with arable land from 3 to 6 dessiatines . and only 3.4% of families with 6 or more des. arable land. The number of people becoming farm laborers in 76 districts of the studied provinces is as follows:

A larger number of farm laborers, therefore, come from the central black earth provinces, a smaller number from provinces with developed non-agricultural latrines and handicrafts. Within the same province, significant fluctuations are observed across counties. The total number of farm laborers, or term workers, can be assumed for all of Russia to be 1,096,000, including 840,000 people. for 25 black earth provinces and 256,000 people. by 25 non-chernozem ones. As mowers those from rural regions who left the middle and northern regions for the Novorossiysk and black earth steppe provinces were registered by zemstvo statistics, mainly for the time of mowing grass and grain - “mows”. These latrine R. are absent from 2 1/2 to 4 months, so they are close to summer farm laborers. This type of work is done either by large families, or by those who rent out their land - the poorest. According to Dpt. agriculture and rural industry, mowers come mainly from the provinces of Poltava, Kyiv, Podolsk, Chernigov, Voronezh, Oryol, Kursk, Tambov, Ryazan and Tula. A less significant number of such R. give lips. Smolensk, Penza, Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan. The mowers are aimed primarily at the lips. Ekaterinoslav, Kherson, Tauride, Stavropol and in the region of the Don Army and Kuban. According to data collected by provincial meetings on the issue of revising the law on June 12, 1886 (see N. Brzhesky), this should also include Samara province, where up to 400 newcomers R. years of the R. contingent, as “mowers”, seems impossible. According to zemstvo administrations, in the southern districts of the Kherson province. Now up to 100,000 people arrive for summer work; meanwhile, from Alexandria and Elisavetgrad uy. the same lip. up to 40,000 people leave. However, these data do not distinguish between “mowers” ​​and farm laborers. The latrine “mowers” ​​could be called, together with S. F. Rudnev, spare element temporary rural R. In addition to farm laborers and mowers, in the group of rural R. zemstvo statistics also note shepherds, hired in most cases not by individual owners, but by rural communities (under the dominance of communal land ownership, each village has its own herd). The shepherd usually hires a few more shepherds, depending on the size of the herd. Of the provinces studied, the largest number of shepherds comes from Tver province. (7.2 per 100 households), the smallest is Poltava (0.5), the average is Saratov (3.1). The total number of shepherds in 73 counties is approximately 53 thousand. In the southern provinces there are special types shepherds - shepherds, herders, herdsmen; the owners hand over huge fortunes to them - flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, herds of horses. In addition to farm laborers, mowers, and shepherds, who in various regions make up from 60 to 96% of all rural workers who usually work for hire, there are also day laborers And piecework R. In this category, zemstvo statisticians included persons for whom daily and piecework work is common, and not just an auxiliary occupation for independent farming. According to Kursk statisticians, this type of day laborer is common among the poorest and least affluent part of the population. Behind these R., in the proper sense, stands a large class of small and medium-sized farmers who, either due to insufficient allotment, or due to other conditions, are engaged in hired work from neighboring landowners in the form of an auxiliary occupation, sometimes only for the pastures and runs necessary for their livestock. They, judging by the data from the DPT. agriculture, and according to provincial conferences, landowners' land is predominantly cultivated. In the near future, they will probably move either (the majority) into the category of farm laborers, mowers, etc., or (the minority) into the category of wealthy peasants. The need for agriculture of one category or another is far from the same in individual regions, depending on the density of the peasant population, the size of the plot, the method of culture (Baltic provinces), the number of owned lands, the development of withdrawal to non-agricultural trades, etc. central in the provinces of the black earth strip of European Russia, there is no need for newcomers; most of the work is carried out by local forces; Only the interdistrict movement of hired workers is noticeable, depending on land use conditions and the degree of harvest of a given year. Owner's lands are cultivated primarily not only by the forces of local peasants, but also by their implements. This processing occurs either by renting for money, or by share, or by working out (piecework), or by hiring for work for money. When hiring, the following method is widely practiced, according to evidence from provincial conferences. The poorer of the local peasants are hired out to neighboring landowners in the fall, during the collection of taxes, or in the winter, in order to receive at least some money in advance in the form of a deposit in a particularly difficult time for them. Because of the latter, labor is sold not only at a significantly reduced price, but also under more difficult conditions than in ordinary times. In Tambovsky district for processing 1 dessiatine, with cleaning and delivery of bread to the threshing floor, with timely hiring, from 8 to 12 rubles are paid; when hired in winter, the same work is valued at 4 rubles. 50 k. - 5 rub. In Elatomsky district. in summer they pay 5-7 rubles for stubble. from tithes; when hired in the fall, they give 3-4 rubles, and sometimes 2 rubles. 50 kopecks A needy peasant in difficult times often hires himself from several employers at once and takes deposits from all of them; then, when the time of need comes, he does not have time to cope with all the work he has collected, does it somehow or does not show up for work at all. Knowing that others are working next to him at twice the price - especially during the harvest - he does not consider himself morally bound to the employer and often, at the busiest times, moves to another owner who offers a higher payment. The unprofitability of this order of things is recognized, judging by the data of provincial meetings, by the employers themselves, especially those who are beginning to understand the need to transition to a more rational culture that requires more careful work. Local land-poor peasants who are hired at low prices greatly reduce the wages of real rural farm laborers. In the central provinces non-chernozem Previously, the need for newcomers was not noticed due to the insignificance of the owners' crops; but now, with the development in these provinces of a shift to non-agricultural trades, sometimes even the labor force necessary for local agriculture, the need for them is beginning to be felt. According to Yarosl. lips extra, committee, from many areas of the Yaroslavl province. local able-bodied peasants go to cities and factories, and their place even in their own farms occupied by newcomer hired workers from Tver, Vologda and Arkhangelsk provinces. IN southern steppe provinces permanent work are performed by term laborers (farmers) and local day laborers; but in times of need, as has already been said, many migrant workers from the middle provinces come here. Special markets for agricultural wage labor have formed, among which the local labor markets stand out. Kakhovka and village Dzhankoy Tauride lips. At the first, during the Nikolskaya Fair, on May 9, up to 24,000 workers of both sexes accumulate, and at the second, from May 1 to May 15, up to 5,000. Those who are not hired here disperse to secondary markets (railway stations, bazaars). These markets have no organization; sanitary supervision over newcomers was established only (by the Kherson zemstvo). Recently, in some southern provinces (Kherson, Tauride), local peasants who have their own haymowers and reaping machines or steam threshers have been hired for piece work. Having finished working at home, these peasants are hired to harvest and thresh grain in large economies or from other peasants. IN eastern steppes, across the Volga, farm laborers and newcomers rarely use rivers; newcomers R. are hired in most cases on a piece-rate basis. In the provinces Privislyansky And Baltic owner-occupied farms are run almost exclusively by farm labor, with the owner's full live and dead inventory. IN southwestern provinces, most of the work is carried out by local rural districts in the Volyn province. It is common practice to hire lower ranks of troops stationed in a given area for summer work, which is convenient for landowners, but significantly reduces labor prices for rural peasants. In the counties bordering Austria-Hungary, R. from Galicia are found in some economies. Term workers in this area are often engaged in winter, at sugar factories. Hiring methods rural R. are as follows: 1) R. themselves come to the economy and ask for work (mainly in the central black earth provinces), 2) hiring is carried out by clerks and managers (southwestern provinces) or so-called. economic agents(Kharkov province), which holidays after mass, usually near the church, they hire R. or travel for this purpose to villages, especially those with arrears, and where there are hiring markets, they come to these markets; 3) one of the more prosperous local peasants takes in savings contract he hires other peasants on his own behalf for certain work and to perform it. This method of hiring began to be observed only recently (Tambov province). Sometimes the suppliers of rural hazel grouse during grain threshing are peasant owners of hired steam threshers (Tavricheskaya province). When hiring, workers' passports are taken away, sometimes outerwear. Agreements are usually concluded verbally. Relatively wages rural R. there is detailed and well-developed material, especially in relation to daily wages. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Industry annually collects through its correspondents and publishes information on the pay of draft and foot workers (and workers). Information on annual and summer fees was collected by the same department and developed by S. A. Korolenko. For piece prices, the department collected and, according to A.F. Fortunatov, carefully developed under the leadership of A.A. Shultz, rich material on the costs of production of main grains. A summary of all this data was made by the office of the Committee of Ministers. According to the summary of this latest edition, for 1882 -91. the highest average annual payment of R. for the master's grub was in the Tauride province. (104 rubles), in St. Petersburg province. (102 rubles, with the exception of three districts - St. Petersburg, Tsarskoye Selo and Peterhof), in the Region. Don troops (90 rubles) and in the Courland province. (90 rubles), and the lowest - in the lips. Volynskaya (80 rubles), Grodno (37 rubles), Kovenskaya (43 rubles) and Podolsk (44 rubles). With the transfer of food to monetary value, the highest payment falls on the St. Petersburg province, with the exception of the 3 named districts (102 rubles, monetary value + 65 rubles, the average cost of food = 167 rubles), then on the province. Tauride (163 rub.), Livlyandskaya and Estlyandskaya (140 rub.); the smallest - for Volyn (70 rubles), Podolsk (77 rubles 50 kopecks) and Grodno (84 rubles). The worker's pay is the highest (at the owner's grub) in Tauride Gubernia. (54 rubles), the smallest - in Grodno, Vilna, Orenburg and Volyn (25 1/2); with the transfer of food to cash payment, the highest payment was in the St. Petersburg province. (115 rubles in 3 named y. and 125 rubles in the rest). Thus, the highest average for 10 years of plateau-annual labor was obtained in the southern steppe zone, where there is a particularly strong demand for hired labor, and then in the Baltic provinces, where the supply of labor is insufficient. The worst conditions are found in the western and southwestern regions, where, despite the dense population, railway communications and manufacturing industry are poorly developed. According to the Department of Agriculture, in the Kurland province. For example, only 86,987 people are left to meet the needs of local agriculture, while in Kovno province. this balance is 295,327 people, and in the first the factory industry is almost 2 1/2 times more developed than in the second. In addition, according to the owners, everyone will gladly pay more to a developed, skillful Courland farmhand (i.e., a rural worker in the proper sense, who, moreover, is not disadvantaged by the competition of a neighboring peasant owner), than to an incapable Kovno litvin (half-proletarian, half-owner) . The average annual fee for a R. throughout Russia is 61 rubles, while the cost of maintaining a R. is determined on average at 46 rubles. Summer the fee does not fluctuate as much from place to place as the annual fee. In the western and southwestern regions, such payment does not differ much from the annual one, i.e., winter labor is little valued there: the opposite phenomenon is noticed in the provinces. southern and Baltic.

Average for 10 years, in 1882-91, daily the fee is:

Daily wages for a walking male worker (in kopecks) for 1882-91:

The daily wages are generally lower during spring sowing. In all black earth provinces, the work of the worker is most highly valued during harvesting, and in all non-black earth provinces - during haymaking. Above average prices in the Baltic, southern, steppe and northwestern provinces; the smallest boards are distinguished by lips. southwestern, western and northern chernozem. Spring boards are more stable than boards during haymaking and grain harvesting. In some cases, the greatest fluctuations in daily wages were observed in the southern steppe lips. (from 1 5 k. to 5 r., on own grub). Daily wages of 10-15 kopecks are considered hungry payments and correspond to the cost of cheap food for the worker, as shown by the difference between payments for work with the worker’s own food and with the owner’s. This difference on average for all of Russia during spring sowing is equal to 11 kopecks, and during haymaking and grain harvesting, when a lot of labor is expended due to the severity and haste of work, it is 13 kopecks. Hiring on your own grub in some areas, especially in the western , prevails over hiring with the master's grub. Women's daily wages on the master's grub represent geographical fluctuations similar to fluctuations in men's wages. The ratio of women's wages to men's wages in non-chernozem Russia is higher than in black earth Russia. In general, it rarely exceeds 2/3 of the male fee. Comparison of boards for a foot worker with a board sled workers shows that the latter exceeds the former by approximately the amount of payment for horsepower. According to the latest published data, dpt. earth and rural industrial, the highest daily wage for a walking male worker during the grain harvest in the summer of 1898 on their there was grub in the Novorossiysk provinces: Ekaterinoslav - 1 rub. 36 k., Kherson - 1 rub. 19 k., Don Region - 1 rub. 12 k. and Tavricheskaya - 1 p. 1 k. Lowest payment: in the province. Kazan - 39 k., Ufa and Grodno - 41 k., Simbirsk and Vilna - 43 k., Volyn and Vyatka - 47 k., Minsk - 48 k., Penza - 49 k.; in other provinces the fee fluctuated between 1 rub. and 50 kop. Highest average pay for a foot worker master's there was grub in the provinces: Ekaterinoslav - 1 rub. 18 k., Kherson - 1 rub., Donskoy - 90 k., Tavricheskaya - 80 k.; the smallest - in the provinces: Kazan - 30 kopecks, Ufa - 33 kopecks, Simbirsk and Vilna - 34 kopecks, Volyn and Vyatka - 35 kopecks, Oryol, Penza and Grodno - 40 kopecks; in other provinces prices fluctuated between 80 and 40 kopecks. Piecework wages are especially common when applied to harvesting grain, but also have great value and when hiring for processing; it varies widely depending on the conditions of place and time. On average, for the complete cultivation of one dessiatine for rye, with sowing, 6 rubles are paid. 81 kopecks (5 rubles 81 kopecks in black provinces, 8 rubles 4 kopecks in non-black provinces). The cheapest prices for harvesting spring crops with a scythe are in the Kazan and Ryazan provinces. (1 rub. 65 k. per tithe) and highest in Bessarabian (5 rub. 50 k.) and Saratov (5 rub.); for winter harvesting, the lowest payment is also in Kazan province, the highest in Livlyandskaya province (5 rubles 73 kopecks). For harvesting spring crops with a sickle, the lowest fee is in Kaluga (2 rubles, 50 kopecks), the highest in Arkhangelsk (6 rubles), winter - the lowest in Mogilev (3 rubles, 45 kopecks), the highest in Tver, Arkhangelsk and Estlyandskaya (6 rubles) ). Information on the prevalence of agricultural machines during harvesting is as follows (see ed. Chancellor's Office, Min., Table VIII): the largest percentage arable land, on which the machines are used, is given by the Orenburg province. (50%), then Ekaterinoslav (40%), Podolsk (38%), Tauride (37.8%), Poltava (17%), Kharkov (16%), Saratov (10%), Kherson (9%); in others it is even lower. These data, however, are only approximate, but for some lips. (for example, V. Donsk Region) there is no data at all.

Attempts legislative regulation Relations between rural residents and employers begin soon after the abolition of serfdom. Already in 1863 they published temporary rules for hiring for rural work, which introduced the so-called workbook, but it remained almost unused. In the 70s a project was drawn up general position about hiring R. in general, including rural ones, but he did not receive the force of law. On June 12, 1886, the “Regulations on hiring for agricultural work” were approved (St. Law XII Vol. I), which is still in force (applicable only when hiring fixed-term workers). This "Regulation" allows employers and workers to enter into an agreement either verbally or in writing; in the latter case, the penalty for violation of the contract is determined by the Regulations, in the first - by general civil laws (see Personal hiring). In addition to collecting remuneration from a worker who left without permission in the amount of 3 months' salary, the employer can, through the police, demand the return of the worker; if the latter is unwilling to comply with this requirement, he is subject to criminal liability (under Article 51 2 of the Statute on the Taxation of the Peace Court). Criminal liability is established by the “Regulations” of 1886 for the employer, but not for violating the contract with workers, but for luring workers away from another employer, and a claim for damages may be brought against the employer who accepted the worker bound by another contract. According to the evidence of provincial meetings, the Regulations of 1886 are applied very little. R., being in most cases illiterate, are afraid to enter into written contracts. Civil penalties against R., according to the owners, “are nothing to take,” and criminal prosecutions represent only a series of hassles for the employer, and the worker brought in by the police produces work of the lowest quality. Since 1886, the issue of changing employment regulations has not left the queue: it was discussed in different societies, at the All-Russian Agricultural Congress (1896), then at special provincial meetings and in May 1898 it was submitted for consideration to the Agricultural Council under the Ministry of Agriculture and State. property. Here the majority spoke in favor of general legislative regulation of relations regarding the hiring of rural workers, but at the same time the vast majority rejected the introduction of a generally mandatory work book. The council also did not consider the partial introduction of contract books for certain types of employment desirable, since this would not eliminate the possibility of simultaneous conclusion of an agreement with several employers. The Council recognized it as desirable to establish criminal liability for both parties for violation of the contract and to consider cases of such violations not only by volost courts, but also by other judicial institutions, and, moreover, in an expedited manner. It is impossible not to notice that now the nature of relations between employers and workers is somewhat different than in the 70s and 80s. At that time, for employers, especially in the southern provinces, there was a strong need for workers and dependence on them in times of need. Now the south was settled, machinery greatly reduced the demand for labor; Meanwhile, the supply of labor not only did not decrease, but increased significantly, and violations of verbal and written contracts by workers are made an exception, as was also evidenced by provincial meetings. Such violations usually occur with the indicated method of hiring in advance for an insignificant payment and in general through the fault of the employers themselves, who sometimes feed the worker poorly or delay the payment of payment. In general, the relationship between the owners and R. has already assumed such a character that the loss for the worker turns out to be more unprofitable than compliance with even an agreement unfavorable for him.

Literature. A. Buchenberger, "Agrarwesen und Agrarpolitik" (I volume, 1892, in A. Wagner's "Lehr- und Handbuch d. P. Oek.", III); A. Ludogovsky, "Fundamentals of Agricultural. economy" (1875); Y. Yanson, "Comparative statistics of the population" (1892); N. Kablukov, "The question of workers in agriculture" (1884); him, "On the conditions for the development of peasant farming in Russia" (1898) ; Fr. Engels, "Die Lage der arbeitenden Klassen iu England" (1892); T. Kebbel, "The agricultural laborer" (1887); in den letzten hundert lahren" (1894, in "Schrift. d. Ver. f ü r Soc. Pol.", LIX); "Royal commission of Labor. The agricultural Labourer"; De Rouzier, "Trade unions in England" (1898); F. Reitzenslein u. E. Nasse, "Agrarische Zustä nde in Frankreich u. England" (1884, in "Sehr. d. V. f. Spl.", XXVII); "Statistique agricole de la France. R ésultats généraux de Fenquête décennale de 1882"; J. Jaurès, "Socialisme et Paysans" (1897); F. Knapp, "Slavery and freedom in rural labor" (appendix to the edition of M. I. Vodovozova, "History labor", from Conrad's "Handw örterbuch"); O. Geck, "Distribution of the German population by occupation according to the census data of 1882 and 1895." (in the collection N. Garin "From economic life Zap. Europe", issue I); I. Schmidt, "The economic structure of Bavaria according to data from 1882-92" (ibid.); Th. Goltz, "Die l ändliche Arbeiterklasse u. der preussisch. Staat" (1893); M. Weber, "Die Verhä ltnisse der Landarbeiter in ostelbischen Deutschland" (1892, in "Schr. d. V. I. Socio l.", LV); "Verhandlungen des Vereins f. Socialpolitik über des landliche Arbeiterfrage" (1895, "Schriften d. V.", LVIII); "Berufs- und Gewerbe Zä hlung von 14 Juni 1895. Die Landwirtschaft im Deutsch. Reiche" (1898, "Statistik d. deutsch. Reiches"; stated by J. Conrad in his "Jahrb. f. N. u. S.", 1898), K. Frankenstein, "Die Arbeiterfrage in den deutschen Landwirtschaft" (1897); Eheberg, "Agrarische Zust ä nde in Italien" (1886, in "Sehr. d. V. f. Socp.", XXIX); E. Kreicsi, "Gesetzentwurf üb. die Regelung d. Rechtsverhä ltnisse zwischen den Arbeitgebern u. den landwirtsch. Arbeitern" (in Braun's "Archiv f. soc. Gesetzgeb.", XII, vol. I, 1898); P. Fahlberck. "Die l ä ndliche Arbeiterfrage in Schweden" (1894, "Schr. d. V. f. Spl.", LIX); statistics of Switzerland" (in the collection of Garin); L. Krzhivitsky, "Capitalization of agriculture. industry" ("World of God", 1898, II-X); S. A. Korolenko, "Free-hired labor in owner-occupied farms and the movement of workers" (1892, "Agricultural and statistical information", ed. Dpt. land and rural industry, issue V); "The cost of production of main grains in Europe. Russia" (1890, same edition, issue III); "Materials on the issue of the cost of cultivating land in Europe. Russia" (1889, "Proceedings of the Warsaw Central Statistical Committee", Nos. 10 and 12); "Earnings of peasants and emigration to America" ​​(1891, "Proceedings of the Warsh. Statistical Committee", issue V); " Compare. rural earnings statistics population and emigration to America" ​​(1892, ibid., issue VIII); "Code of statistical materials concerning rural areas. population Europe Russia" (ed. Chancellor's Office of Ministers, 1894); N. Blagoveshchensky, "Consolidated statistical. collection of farms. information on zemstvo courtyard censuses. T.I. Peasant farming"(1893); A. Fortunatov, "Agricultural. statistics" (1893); S. Rudnev, "Crafts of European peasants. Russia" (1894, collection of the Saratov provincial zemstvo); "Collection of opinions on issues related to the revision of the regulation of June 12, 1886 on hiring for rural work" (1898); a presentation of the contents of this collection was made by N. Brzhesky, " Employers and workers in agriculture" ("Russian Economic Review", 1898, X); N. Karyshev, "Labor, its role and conditions of application in production (1897); book N. Shakhovskoy, “Agricultural latrines” (1896); I. Gurvich, " Economic situation Russian village" (1896); N. Tezyakov, "Agricultural workers in general and newcomers in particular in the Kherson province. in sanitary terms" ("Collection of the Kherson Land", 1891, 8); M. Uvarov, "Program for the study of alien workers" (ibid.); L. Kirillov, "Lateral trades of the peasants of the Yaroslavl province." (Section I: “Review of the Yaroslavl province,” ed. by the Yaroslavl provincial statistical committee, edited by A. Svirshchevsky, “Kiev peasant and his economy” (1893); Russland" (1898, in "Conrad's H andwö rterb.", 2nd ed.). Many references to articles about rural R. in periodicals. literature, see E. M. Dementyev, “Factory” (bibliographical appendix, p. 14). For instructions on the literature on the conclusion of a rental agreement by rural R., see E. I. Yakushkin, “Customary Law” (issue II, 486). See also Peasants, Waste trades, Hiring.

A farm worker is a hired farm worker who works under the direction of a foreman or farmer. At present, agricultural workers are mainly employed in large farms Oh. A good farm worker has professional skills and works with initiative.

Job responsibilities

The duties of an agricultural worker include field and forestry work, and sometimes also caring for animals. The types of work vary depending on the production profile of the farm and the time of year. After spring sowing work, care for the crops follows, then haymaking, harvesting and the necessary autumn work. In winter - harvest processing, forestry work on farm lands, as well as various works related to repairs and technical maintenance. Also, an agricultural worker can participate in construction and repair production premises. He works throughout the farm, subordinate to the farmer or foreman. Depending on the type of work performed, various agricultural machines and equipment, as well as tools, are used. Work is carried out during the daytime, but working hours varies depending on season and busy times.

Places of work

Farms.

Job requirements

The worker must be proactive and have extensive knowledge in different types works and their stages due to the fact that the types of work on a farm often change. You must be able to use the machines, equipment and tools necessary for your work.

An agricultural worker must be in good shape, as some types of work require a certain amount of physical strength. Forestry work is especially difficult in winter. When working in crop production, you sometimes have to lift and move heavy loads when applying fertilizers to the soil and planting, as well as when harvesting and processing crops. A farm worker is sometimes required to work in awkward positions and difficult conditions depending on the machinery and equipment used. You can protect yourself from noise, vibration, dust, heat and cold by using good tools and various protective devices.

Education

To obtain the profession of an agricultural worker, passing a basic exam in the specialty of agriculture is suitable. In addition, the exam can be taken through on-the-job training under a training contract or as a demonstration exam. A worker who has good working skills can pass, for example, a professional exam in the specialty of a farmer in the form of a demonstration exam. Besides this, educational institutions organize short-term professional courses for advanced training.

Salary

When paying agricultural workers, the salary recommendations contained in the collective agreement are applied. employment contract"Entrepreneurship in rural areas" Salary varies depending on job responsibility, work experience and professional skills.

Labor market information

(Labor market information applies to all professional sphere, it is not limited to the profession described above.)

AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY

Agricultural industry – important employer in rural areas. Agriculture directly employs about 90,000 people, of whom approximately 80,000 are entrepreneurs or members of their families. There are approximately 10,000 wage workers. In addition to primary production, agriculture indirectly provides employment throughout the food chain, especially in the food industry, trade and transport.

When measuring employment quantitatively, the largest employers are agricultural farms, followed by farms specializing in dairy farming and gardening. The number of people working on farms, especially livestock, and in agriculture has fallen significantly in recent decades, while farm size and productivity have increased.

Additional workers would be needed to fill in during vacations, as well as for gardening and landscaping work. Contract work provides employment during sowing, silage making, threshing and, for example, energy wood collection and woodchip production.

The number of people working in agriculture continues to decline. On the other hand, the average age of workers in agriculture is high, and therefore a new workforce is needed to replace entrepreneurs retiring. Due to the age structure of the rural population, the situation with the availability of labor is deteriorating.

The number of farms providing primary livelihoods continues to decline, and an increasingly large portion of farm income comes from activities other than agriculture. New employment opportunities are provided by diversification of farms, contract work, sub-supplies and other entrepreneurial activities.