Working conditions of production personnel of the trams in the cities of the Chelyabinsk region in the 1930s

An important characteristic of the level of development of society is the material conditions of the life and work of its people. The relevance of the study is due to the ability to identify the conditions which primarily determined the efficient operation of urban electric transport based on analysis of historical sources. The purpose of the study is to identify the main factors which influenced tram workers in their daily work in Chelyabinsk, Zlatoust, Magnitogorsk in the 1930s. On the basis of materials from Federal and Regional archives and journalistic press, the paper presents the main production characteristics of the tram economy of the RSFSR. It analyzes the operational characteristics of the rolling stock, working conditions in the depot and on the traffic lines, and the influence of the human factor in the 1930s on the working of the trams. Historical sources were analyzed through the prism of the history of everyday life. The methodology was based on case-studies. The author shows that the cumulative effect of the harsh natural and climatic conditions, the lack of equipped work places, tools, and materials led to excessively long working shifts, and constant personnel turnover. The circumstances of working conditions were dictated by the general level of technical equipment of the time and the level of development of the industry. The factors identified in the course of the study which influenced the working conditions in the tram facilities of the cities of the Chelyabinsk region enabled the general situation in the 1930s in the field of trams in the cities of the RSFSR to be characterised (with the exception of Moscow and Leningrad).