Kultura techniczna pracowników przemysłu w okresie PRL na przykładzie regionu kujawsko-pomorskiego

• Authors: Sławomir Kamosiński

Title variants

EN

Technical culture of industry workers in the period of the Polish People’s Republic on the example of Kuyavian-Pomeranian Province

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

In the article the author aimed to answer the question about the level of technical culture of industry workers in the period of the Polish People’s Republic. In order to explain the issue objectively, the author did research with workers in factories, paying attention to how they coped with handling machines, how their job places were organized, how individuals and teams reacted to changes in the technical surrounding in enterprises, how workers dealt with production of high quality, how individuals and teams reacted to raising professional qualifications. It is hard to explain the term “technical culture”. It must be noted that it is an immeasurable element. The term can be regarded as an important part of society’s culture. Technical culture constitutes a certain level of skills of individuals and societies necessary to use modern technology in everyday life and to adapt people to live in the technical surrounding. As far as businesses are concerned, technical culture refers to the ability of the staff to create new technological solutions and to use them effectively. It must be underlined that the level of technical culture of workers is reflected in their responsibility for the product they make, for its reliability and proper installation. Technical culture is acquired throughout all life, both through education and observation. It is a process which should never end. On the basis of the research conducted, the author is inclined to believe that the level of technical culture of Polish industry workers was very low. The main reasons for that were the following: the agricultural character of Polish society, which had affected the mentality of individuals; the way technological progress was perceived; shortcomings of mass education, which was mainly vocational and whose aim was to quickly prepare workers to work in factories; lack of care while handling precise machines and their devastation; the fact that Polish society accepted and appreciated hard physical work which was believed to ruin health of factory workers; insufficient acquisition of new production technologies by workers (licensed technologies included); low quality of work reflected in bad quality of production; lack of emotional involvement in the job. The authorities of the Polish People’s Republic noticed the problem, but they tried to hide it using various propaganda techniques. In the image created by the authorities an enterprise was becoming a new cathedral, a temple of technology. To achieve the image architects were hired to design new factories, for example the Artificial Fibre Mill “Elana” in Torun, the Teklom-Telfa Factory in Bydgoszcz. Getting a vocational education was shown as a social advance and promotion. Owing to the factors shown above, the level of technical culture of industry workers was diminishing. Consequently, the Polish People’s Republic’s participation in the international work share was minor, and the hopes to export modern products (made in Poland or licensed) to capitalist countries remained unfulfilled.

• Publisher: Towarzystwo Naukowe w Toruniu
• Journal: Zapiski Historyczne
• Year: 2009
• Volume: 74
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 39-57

Contributors

author

Sławomir Kamosiński

• Uniwersytet Kazimierza Wielkiego w Bydgoszczy