Soviet Archives - Collection of Government Documents on Workers

From the Collection of enactment and decrees of the government for 1921, Administration of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR

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About partnerships (artels) of responsible labor. ( Izv. No. 271, S. U. 77‐641).

Article No. 641.

Decree of the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars.

About partnerships (artels) of responsible labor.

In order to regulate the storage of goods, sums of money and other valuables and transactions with them by transferring the performance of these operations to responsible employees who materially guarantee the correctness of their implementation and the safety of valuables, the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars decided to approve the following provision on responsible labor partnerships:

1. The partnership has the purpose of dispatching posts and performing work and assignments related to the reception, storage, issue, transportation and protection of goods, sums of money, valuables and other property. These assignments and works are carried out by the personal labor of its members at their mutual responsibility.

2. Partnerships operate on the basis of a charter approved by the local Departments of Justice. Partnerships, the charters of which provide for the opening of Branches outside the provinces, are approved by the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Justice.

3. The charters of the Partnerships submitted for approval must be signed by the founders of the Partnership in the number of at least 50 and contain the designations:

a) the name, purpose and place of activity of the Partnership, indicating the smallest number of its members;

b) the conditions for admission to membership, their rights and obligations, as well as the procedure for their withdrawal or exclusion from the Partnership;

c) the conditions, procedure and limit for the use of hired labor to serve the needs of the Partnership itself;

d) the amount of liability of the members of the Partnership for its obligations, if this amount is limited;

e) the period and other conditions for the issuance of the amounts due to them from the Partnership to the retired or excluded members, as well as the period during which the appointed members continue to be responsible for the obligations of the Partnership;

f) the procedure for the formation, storage and spending of the amounts of the Partnership;

g) the procedure for making membership fees and the procedure for covering the losses of the Partnership;

h) the procedure for managing the affairs of the Partnership and its audit;

i) general reporting grounds, and

j) the procedure for liquidating the affairs of the Partnership.

4. Members of the Partnership may be persons of both sexes at least 18 years of age, not limited in rights by the court.

5. The partnership enjoys the rights of a legal entity and as such can, on the basis of the current legal provisions, acquire property, enter into agreements, assume obligations, seek and answer in court. Partnerships have the right to unite both by forming unions and by merging.

6. Funds of the Partnership are formed from membership fees (money or items) and from other receipts and consists of capital: a) main, b) spare and c) working capital. The fixed capital is kept in the institutions of the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Finance, is spent only on satisfying claims and, in the event of a decrease, is subject to replenishment.

7. Membership fees must be the same for all members of the partnership.

8. According to the obligations assumed and for the integrity and safety of the property entrusted to the Partnership, and for the correct dispatch of services and, in general, for losses caused by the actions of the members of the Partnership, the latter is responsible with all of its property, as well as the mutual guarantee of all its members within the limits provided for charter in accordance with paragraph ʺgʺ of Art. 3 of this provision.

9. By mutual guarantee, the responsibility between the members is divided equally.

10. A person joining the Partnership is also responsible for the obligations of the Partnerships that arose prior to his becoming a member of the latter.

11. The property of the Partnership cannot be converted into satisfaction of penalties for the personal obligations of its members.

12. Replacement of professional personal labor of members of the Partnership with hired labor is not allowed.

13. The partnership is given the right to assume responsibility for the work of individual employees and a group of employees who are not members, under special agreements with the administration of the institution or enterprise served by these employees.

14. Payment for labor and other services of the members of the Partnership, as well as remuneration to the Partnership itself for the guarantee is made in accordance with a written agreement concluded by the Board of the Partnership with the company or institution served.

15. The partnership ceases to operate: a) upon the expiration of the partnershipʹs validity period, if such is provided for by the charter, b) by decision of the general meeting of members or a meeting of authorized representatives, c) when the number of its members is less than required by the charter, d) by a verdict of the judicial authorities, when the activities of the Partnership will be recognized as illegal or causing significant harm to state interests.

16. To instruct the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Justice, by agreement with the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Labor, within a month after the publication of this provision, to develop for the management a model (standard) charter of the Partnership (artel) of Responsible Labor.

Signed by:

Chairman of the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars V. Ulyanov (Lenin) .

N. Gorbunov, Administrator of the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars .

Secretary L. Fotieva .

November 25, 1921.

Published in No. 271 Izvestia of the All‐Russian Central Executive

Committee of Soviets dated December 2, 1921.