VASILE ROAITA SHOPS/LOCATION/DESCRIPTION/PRODUCTION/PERSONNEL, ETC.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500440349-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 4, 2005
• Sequence Number: 349
• Publication Date: April 27, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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? D1-,u
DEC 198? i
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
SUBJECT Vasile Roaita Shops/Location/Description/
Production/- ersonnel, etc.
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THIS IS' UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
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!)A T;_ 1)I 7R.a7 Apr 1954
I:O. 1); . S. p
.-, 01,~:I. 10
REPORT :JO.
Location and General Information
1. "The Yasile Roaita Shops, one of the largest in the Rumanian People's Republic,
i8 located a?tjZidul Mosi Street, opposite Helele Obor, in East Bucharest.
The group of buildings is spread over a rather large area which stretches in a
southwesterly - northeasterly direction, facing Ziduri F:oii Street, bordered on
the left by Principesa Mar: a Street /its present nwnt _ i.e unknown!, and on the
right by the Gradina Eelia " Public Garden-. The buildings are close to-the
Ober Staticr. in Bucharest and are linked to the mrrshaU.ing ywrds of the station
by a trnr_k The .ntire area in which the Vaxile i;auta Shops are
located I.9 .n the prod.:;7t.:~ vorkere. It is well orgtnlz;ed. and naturally, from the
Dumitru man or .'omr%n hod Zma!.1. locker for ht.a clothes
and r,oap f,zM. the factory. :tur.i nr the. showers could oe
taken at .+s,y h.c? a ,_? tht: day or nil;at. P.ut d.uri.:og chr: i.oter., there was one
5AY'Rl Chow?:r d.
25X1 )~a. L6 h.,: .
!:xn t.ne pilot; plant
No. 7, f,hoi N1i c- .tU s.i.nds of "I-J.,re whetl1_, (fir t -loorl' uid wheels for
threshing tur? h~na r.er.n.~d :?lclor. ' irc tsanut'netw?ed.
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Not 18. The factory fire department, set up prior to Comsiunist control.
This department hex- a motor pump.for water, oldequipaent, and 20 men who work in
three shifts., (There v .s a rather serious fire which destroyed the ceiling of
the aaoemb4-shop (No. 1C.) The fire wax bro+tcht under control but since we
were accused en masse of .~botage, vitb^ut proof, we were obaiged to pay for the
damages; for the shops' belonged to us: We were called together, had the
subject of damages presented to us, and were ad;tresaed as a group; 'Comrades!
to whom does Veslle RoaitA belong?' Meaty 'tern shouted: 'T-~, use The
factory is ours l' 'Right.,, they annweredr 'th.er. you all ought to :ortke
reparation'. Our vage:a were withheld in aiour.2o-_ varying from 5 t.. 10 percent
until damages-were paid.)
No. 19. The dispensary. Thee .wcac well organlred an.i equipped by I)umitxu
Voinea. There is an entrance room, and a vaittng rcxse outside of the consulting.
room, and a room with six beds for those not scrtousiv 111.
No. 20. Here, ictt over from the old fnctcry, there were two very large Diesel
blocks which had`their own electrical g?.-?-.rtars '1 the factory, T" 1950)
they were token out and transported to the I~usute-F3laek :*a Canal. i suppose
the,r were in.5talled in the great therms F. ver-house Ovidtu II, for wt ich both
Diesels would have been adequate. Electricity for the 'people's shops' was
provided by a conne Lion with the current rrom Pucharest. In 1952 there were
four ttrsi{stormers, where two formerly hat becnbYhich received the high
tension from Bucbareat. One of the new transforrxmrs was a 2000-volt Machine.
Adjacgnt to these transformers, there is a bui1Ungg with a separate entrance,
a chain shop with towers, snrl a section for as ,-*bling chalyt. j pperently,
this building is not separately indtieated on the rketch7.
NO, 21. The canteen. This is a rather old eoz i ruction, but verti at tQ-
c1 n. It was also ~vteet as a conference ha:1. If the conference was a routine
afi;air,, the wooden tables were not removed, :tea all of the workers did not attend
at once. In special eases,, which were frequent, the tables were taken out, and
benches and chairs brought in.
No. 22. A ram for breaking castings (berbeck.Le ?arkers younger than
16 (they were 16 or 17). The late states that as factory worker under 18
my only work elx hours ;a dry, but tt u t be Fetid for an eight-tour day.
''.c tim:s children of 15, 16, or 17, sons of farmers or corkers, came to
t-- factory staying that they had s.'ri it to work - as did everyone in the
RPR, and ii they made enough of an uproar, they were often hired (if needed).
Other young workers at Vnsile Reaita were the :q prentices, or students from
the :',choolr? for Reserve Workers, of which there titre severrl in the country.
These youths ct.udy during, the scholastic year, one her they hrve completed
their cour-:r they are rent to factories, shops or ghrds, wring the
sues..-r `4;ziile SctrlT.e. usu-,_Uy got 50 to 1:-NC of these ~,tusllents, depending
upm the 4nrk pien sr..: mother of students Rv:-i" nb: e. vnng the Vnsile
Ro,*titra ?ri,)yeas were many '.wn'nisn-born Huai srivnf . ;':ere 'ere te-
25X1 X Sov1 'mss -ire ctxing Oc'r they formerly ia::y ht~,vr been Bcstobiena ?
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15. :ages of wrrker_ re vldeea~ by ca tegox. nc ttj_t: F a',tae>
:et,:g, *y i? .et. before J,nuevr,} t:` , ;e.er~;:. 3y 0.95 bfni, user ':our.
! `a ... lei, before J ;n.,-:y t.-nti,r 0.99 baIni per hour.
tciith ~erc c ' cu1.::a t t , on the beards of
25X1X?,_ r+e' ;lei. (previou. Iy 6,o(x:
L::i per iooilth.), repro cn t. .on nvernge in Rum-nia tode.y, but which
Ic acturl:ly very 1c.' in tcruis or the cost of 1t.v9ng. workers either worked
Ionger than time pr escrlhed eight-hour e,,t:,r or strove for .iditiort~ . output;
and ., :: c . e r:;? to TOO lei per e month , . ??i: trr.e other h.. nd i though, they !J# cC,
not re often re:traved from 'production' under other pretexts, such
nr t rg :,ham ?irr;~erielist', 'reectionery', 'capitalist', etc.
;~;*~aF-ucracy r:x?st.s in the cadres too, though 'bureaucrats' rre attacked. drily.
vc~ri:r:r eases from elsewhere in the country, or from another factory and
vr~.,~.r ., tiot -,en if aJJ his credentin.Ls are in order, he is. told that the
parr'+.r,nc ks fi'.;Led, but to cone b.tck in a week. (phis tadkoos place
at the ewe e., not the personnel office); meanshile the worker is investigated
by .he relics, 'n%t the .fo.Uoving week he can, or cannot , be employed. The
cadres sakes the Cinr. decision on promotions for workers, end hire the
sca.aon:al labor as well r-n the *ange-er,rning workers. They can hire mcnons, for
instance, ~rbi.trmrily and according to the need, but for ether special jobs,
investigations ere made,
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19. ":.he eadpes ias..ucs inily bre~-.t coupons to the day-1-bores, and issued
+ronthly brendcoupons to the ge-earning wipioyees.
O. "Though the cadres concerns itself with persaonnel, its primary personnel
concern is from the point of view of politics, thought, words, observations,
dissatisfied personnel, family social origins, etc. There is still in this
plant, as elsewhere, P Personnel 'ervice which determines who is absent and
who prevent. The `rinistrv requires the office to prepare daily lists of
tittendence.
Ytirty_ Committee
21. The memberfi of the Pr-rty Committee are not perasArcnt; but change trou time
to tine. Its committee is composed of % ?resident, R `?ecretaryr
or four members who nre rpoid" workers. They rre all paid by th~et"^rty
25X1 X for this committee work.
o? d.
seeretary, in 395', vrs Vasile Prrsschiv. qe '. ' - or years
Before he took this Pont he hadTiecn its ,barge of ibricants and ??'. to in
? ? owned n
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the plant, and hid been in charge or tl'e firev^r 3 for the sthe warn was
tnver;t from which he earned a eubstrtnttt,: --Mount of money: but
in bin =-ife'c none, so :rppeeraneea were vregerved.
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22. "The Party Ccsastittee wan concerned with product-tot, and worker morale. It
was this coamaittee which studiet4 'n-oduetion, high or low, for the Party, not
for the ministry. The reports of the committee were sent the
engineer
perhaps the :ministry saw certain things too. The manager and
'stead at attention' before the Party Committee. Serious worker or union
complaints vent to the (arty Committee. Occurrences of thei't, sabotage,
shortages of material, deterioration of material, etc., were investigated
by the Party Committee which decided who was to be punished. The cosmmittee
hod its spies and inforvers among the workers; they were , but
25X1 f their existence, and behaved accordingly. The committee decided
e was to take the guard duty in the factory on election days, and when the
duty fei.' to this, or that worker, he could not disobey. The Party Committee
made decisions on, changes and transfers of workers as proposed by the Commdttee
Ott tn' uttr .
^heC oas?mittea on Irrlusttr
23. "This committee was also at the Yasile : mitt factory, buti
exactly what its strength, function or competence were. I one
25M incident which involved the Cot ittee on Industry: sore foreseen who wanted
to hnyP ?six or seven workers transferre to another section, went to the
25X1 XC~t.sree on Industry to igr. and examine the transfer .rope::, before P. jinsl
c?ac i?nn by the 1' ray Co.ratittee. These foremen vent .',:scree iy to several:..
r"fie-er: rand floors trying to lincover who the members o rh t;orcmittee on
.-!.tstry mere. 'fter much loss of time, it appetxo-c' *_4-t . the Committee
memt,,;: *erc their own colleryues. The neebers Kidd never mentionea their
r;or?.~ th th Ccmir.ittce on Indus terry, brrcruse none of them accorded c my
iuipor. t9rc :r? it. The 'er? i-,ntenment' work', which wes supposed to precede
ouch to , for the ilutm-nisn worker had, obviously, not been carried out.
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24. 'The union 'o; -oncerned with raising production tb:rough 'voci'list
C'epetitionr' /I`nLreceri socialiste7. It represented the factory, end 'the
factory belonE;r co the workers' (which is Why the workers were obliged to
pay the cost of repairing the factory). The union has P. President and a
!'secretary, who are freeuentl.y changed, and seven or eight worker members.
Union members work for the union after their regular hours, hrd are-prid
neparately.for this. In nn urgent cnse,.they are callea from their work.
Certain of the members; work with the 'Social:^t L:o etitions', certain
with workers' social insurance, others with pro?Juction problem.- ouch as
reduction of costs, etc. -'The-union, -as such, be1cngn tc' the u:^.s=11cs-
chemical Unions of the ^i August district. (Resit ' August _3 one of the
edninietmtive districts set up by the Coms-:nistr,) among the aeted.io-
chemicei unions of thja district were those oft Q\"xr?, V rile Roaita,
nnJ Radio-Populnr (frrsserly Pailipps factory at 11u? crest, now nrtionnlited).
The Metello-chenieo1 unions of our district forme he federation of Metrllr-
chemical unions: of Ruchereat, which, in turn, for uert or the Uri-)u of
!? tallo-chemical Unionn of the whole RN. Ruch `..rker wt oblige, .o
'?trrrticipbte in the union, but probably would have nnyvay, because
offearta food, clothing, and leave benefits, etc. The great mr.iorit., of
v-'ion members, the lrboring amass of Vasile Roaita, were not members of the
Con niet Perty. 't some ^O0O workers scarcely C or & were :'arty members.
union member oust take part in union meetings, pay the union levy of one
The Onion
1'? ens than stmt at the pa window to pay the union percentage.
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^5. "The union in divided into sections and, then, into Groups. inch Croup has
its President, ztecret?ry end six menberr. %Iho ore concerned with levies,
social insurance, etc., or their own Group. -~ccialist ^ompetitions?'were
conducted by Groups, by sections, by factories, etc. The vorkaen and
officials chsailenged each other to increased work, as one would challenge to
a d*el.. but competition were not conducted for work alone: they were
bold for all kinds of nonsense. For examine, a '' ocisalist Competition*
sight be presented on the basis of the following pledges: '1 undertake to
hold to the schedule of operations,
promise to be on time with quotas', ,
competitions, to surpass their daily quote by 7C or 80 percent. But if
e worker spoils materis.l, causing it to be scrapped, he has to pay for it from
his %ages.
*union mee tin
26. "Meetings were nnsounced the preceding day on s + rge bi-ck-board at the
entrance gate, No worker coi.id say that be cud not know 'bout it. Sometimes,
for cuertiona cf .iesser i.-ipcrtance, meetings were called by work gi:rup,
??.s,t they were ='swats considered to be obligatory union a;eetings. There were
vs-no 'lighrnin,: neetingn', which were alry st :.lays heir. for prctcsting
' . sericssn S:ropcr f :u acts' or the 'uar makers' . These reetings were announced
V 'c- or ten u?;nutes its tdvr.n ce by someone vhc entere1 the shop in a whirlwind
25X1 Xuo ''form the workers of the ,ueeting s'ceebles! silently Bad bores, and
were -_,>.1d at the -eetivi- wee ',.bout. r p~ote.?t te1eE -m sent to the ')'s
or t?: a 'ranch Government, vv*.s usually read. 'tcrkers were not 'skec: :c7 pay
for :ts te..egttsms. The meetin; oft,r l sted nan} hours, sometimes c:.using
:corers bypass me!^i, But there was nothing to ^:v oboe them: or.a
n.ini?s y b: r4 t&? %ksxnd.
Cowl it rti LI
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Canteen
"The plant ltgd a cpnteen, but the workers were not obliged to eat there; a
large number of workers did not use the' cente,:n, but officials anrt management
perscnnel all ate there. In the winter: more workers wed iL than in the
summer, as traveling was more difficult during winter months. (In summer-
the work day was 6 AM to 2 PM; in winter it vns ( ',u to n1', '-,tii :t rest
25X1) or lunch.) Table tickets were sold either by the ct y, lr for everel
days. T? a cost of a table ticket the an,, 'ens lei, 2 bani
(24 lei before the monetary reform . The reenu no,.)ii consister -)f
broth of beef bones, with beans and potatoces, '.r..r si:rnt kind of te. Me?.t
was supposed to be serveu three times ' week, but :?cw; ily twice - seek was
high, for meat was, ...na is, hard to find in ??uch'ract. ' corrmiss.cn v^s
estr.blisheu for the cnntcen consisting of work:.rG , y..,~ .' re not puL in by
the r'rty. This commission made out the weekly meat , -t ch v,-s ~c::-sivn:rtLy
ch,.nged. Food vats rel..tively good, preci .ely becf'u oi' t i s tlii? t
participation by non-Communist wcrkera in the rffri ;'ht.re e: advantage
to be grained by eating once a day (,.t iioon' in the cru,tcen, beeaur ane
received quarter of bread at this merit without using hie breaaoc;uir :r, which
could therefore be used- in town at home;. If one, ate c'.-, the canteer: the
evening also, his breed coupon vr.s taken. In general, there were sc.rculy
;?O workers in the .,4nteen at night. Uriur.lly the food ''r::; the s:'me as h:,c.
been served at tuna::. (At noon, only about 0 to 40 percent of the workers
used the canted .) Usually t:?.ble tickets were purchnseo for tl:o '. ceks on'
the thy rfter pay c.-, y
51'lortc . '. ihrr+ry,etc
like every l.r?rge plant, hat:, worts tun , supported by the
factory itself, not by worker contributions or wage .rithholdingc. ;,ports
were well-developed. The young said old alike were grouped each day by the
GMA (Gates Pentru Munca Si ttpararea Patriei - Ready for ;work rnd the Defense
of the Fatherland). The factory had aifootball, volleyball rand alpine team.
The workers had one football team, the I apprentices another. ..n attempt was
made once to I'ncluue the older m n in the football competitions. They all.
appeared for the first game, dressed but totally unenthuzi?istic. They
deliberately made no effort to score. The team lras ?re-enlightened', and sent
out for anothLr try some days later. The second time P, worker kickel a
foreman, frm t.uring his foot. No one ever rsrew '.rhetber or not this hrvi been
intentions.., out the games for older men were suspended. ?omc inter-factory
competi r i'na vere :,rr' nged for footbr.ll anu volleyb;:11 to~!ins, ' nu for the
r.lrine 5 well.
29. "1?o'.rr.t. , . - . iso; n~; , -;ii :j.velopec In Rumani . c J? t:?.ke Bert in it
rag ra.Le: of his. 'ffiliv.tions. Trails ^re veil ntarke.,, n.: cabins uei).
provic,.ion~..c', thou i c:'bins built in recent years !re only by 'their
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rl-r. V^..c' .Li. vol .'-ito 'orjir'en's Iubroom thcrt! " .. fn? , ht tit: c'orkmen
,h: rht. tae group acted' Soviet or Mun Wninn pi;e: r.; h: the nruionnl
.: 'rc-e nn:i rnur u_ groups presented rather succo aft n2'e3c lc: t.1 r.:::. !'here wa :
n.i-r, _ i?. .r_ eith ?0G) volumes, mug: zinet:: _n., ne' pc_... Th: books e,e'c;
all tcchruf.i_ books in Pus.ien or (;tmu_nir.n. ?ih ix L,:,dn"., :re .:,,L) teehn;c ...
or cu.. tcrrr'1 in their gener::.l nature:. ,echnie':.l t~o'lks were not .t.'.'?;:i, to h%
taken home. a'r'ch section of the shop had its .r?r: li t.tie library too. There
were usually 60 to. 100 books in the section l!br,r:es. They %.:ere technic'.1
books enu. rend by only n few of the more zeniouc :after wore.
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lctivists within the Shops made note of those who read the books. Free
.pamphlets were distributed to the workmen. For example, the pmephlet o?
the-Bytcov-Aortkievich or Intonia Jandarova methods were given out. The3
sere taken home, but gEnerally not read.
CC? F`I:JEW1 I.\L~
3L. "Films -rerc shorn every month or two. They were Soviet fifes trnnalat
into humanian, shoring life in the factories and shops which were 'the
largest and most advanced in the world'.
32. "The Wall Gazettes were piehi i Phr4i by a 'collective' of the Wall Gr zette.,
composed of six workmen, P^tir+.e~R .nn the, union rolls am in the UT H. The
work wan consider-4 hnnorary, tinu cberefore was unpaid. `i'bis nevspaper of
shop life is w. ittcn i.? .. single copy, oy hand, or on a typewriter. Another,
similar, publication was the Gazete. Tineretului (Youth Gazette).
33? "Vasile Roaita had n 'Red Corner' as di,:other factories, school" :.nd
institutions. There was it 'Rea_ Corner' in each ahon - a pane $r"4 1.?r ''i or
three articles from Scanteiri or Pravda , 'red-drape: photm o
Russo-Rumanian Communist leaders or .^tnxherovites, two ur tb.:Y c ccutirc.. ,..,.
a small. reading table for propagandc. publications. Everythi. ; was F= ad
red. we also had a 'Moscow Corner' - but only in the machine section."
- end -
Enclosures: r : ;;ketc'le-icrp showing buildings of Vaailc Bonita ' ?hopa in
Buck!-rest, with legend.
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a
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CQNFnI T .a
(Enclosure A:
l/.4 S~~ ?4L'4- Vol J
X46fe/G THJ-~-~i IC IqN-O fie0T^
2
10
1.3
>6
;I 5
?~5
1j
15
cars 7 spdQr
G' r9O/NA 1r#J.14b~..
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chen:; chmap of VnsIle Ro? iv, Works, shoving bu_icinep,
U.
7.
6.
ccount.ng cep tmunt
I;?~ ir^,~
Tine-k.:epinr of ice
Time-keeoinw, office for thoec -_,ho :or,; 'in harmony'
is elrro 1oc tei here.
Chief ngl:.-f c:rs of "Ice; i'echnic-J 't .'f's office, r?_: (4fjicc
fit-anger ' off i e
Heavy turners' shop
:'hop for preciflion turnrr3
Assembly shop 14or threshing m-chines.
"Anding shop
i' o undry
ii. Foundry, '~riul iassembiy cnuipment shop
Forge
Tool shop
Press
' 'ashroom for rorkmen
bis. Pilot plant
-heel >annuf:'cture shop
t r story Fire Department
Fui.luirrp, -for trimsfor=rs
C -teen
4?m 'az, bre yinj c-stings
1.ciYng rnu ;cmb~_y rhop, .,nu 1^ck she,p.
Inor_ NO, ? . !:or,_J ouSE
r1n) Nc'. . !,;)u r ~iiroen. :uttin;
F hop
.?ikor k.i ,c tcr~~ bu:ildingu: rIssemb)y : na .rrpr.ntr;i 'nrns.
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