City Council of People's Deputies

The birthplace of the first city council

One of the largest events of the Revolution 1905-1907 was the all-out strike in Ivanovo-Voznesensk City in spring and summer of 1905.This is the time when the first city Council of the working class deputies was founded.

The strike began on May,12 in 1905. Somewhere around 30 thousand people from practically all the enterprises of «Russian Manchester» went on strike. The workers laid around thirty claims(mostly of them had the economic character) to the factory owners. The claims mostly considered the establishment of the guaranteed salary minimum, the establishment of 8-hour working day, the improvement of the sanitary-technical favourable conditions of work and so on. As the list of the demands and claims was made by the local Bolshevist leadership, such political claims as the introduction of the democratic liberties and the convocation of the Constituent Assembly and the celebration of the May Day( Russian state holiday) were included in it.

The Council of the working class deputies was elected right in the beginning of the strike. It might seem to be paradoxical, but the authorities and the owners of the factories themselves took the lead in the deputies' election. They declared that they would carry negotiations only with the authorized workers' representatives and not with the disorganized crowd. So the elections were held, but regardless of the owners' expectations the deputies refused to call the meeting on each factory taken separately. They united into the city Council. According to their ideological idea this government body was bolshevist, but according to the social content it was completely proletarian( there was only one white-collar worker in it). And the middle age of the deputies was 23 years.

This working class body is considered to be the first in Russia city Council. Though there were some Councils in March-April of 1905 in some factory of the Urals. But they were local and existed just very little period of time.

Almost two months the city Council carried the negotiations with the factory owners. As the result the deputies gained some concessions. The financial Committee was raising money for the workers on strike, but managed to raise just very small amount of money- somewhere around 18 thousand roubles. Those workers who were striking lost much more money. On the raised money they bought food for most needy people. In fact the Council took on him the responsibilities and authorities of the local government: the discipline on the working suburbs was performed with the forces of the police( that was made in the course of the strike ), all the taverns were closed, it became less drunk people, fights and scandals in the city. The authority and weight of the Council was acknowledged not just by the workers, but also by the factory owners and city government.

The strike of the workers was organized stopped at the end of July, 1905. The owners didn't satisfy all the claims, though made essential concessions. In the average, the working day duration decreased till 10 and a half hours, the salary increased in 10 %, also pregnant and nursing the babies women started to get some benefits.