Bill Gates and Bono: why a philanthropist should be a civil activist. Bill Gates and Bono: why a philanthropist should be a civil activist Why be an activist

Understand your preferences. When you look at the world around you, what impresses you? What gives you hope? What makes you angry? Why are you afraid of the future? Your potential incentives could be based on both what inspires you (e.g. healthy eating in schools), and on what outrages you (the tendency among teenagers to “post” nude photos).

• Write down or create a list of things that worry you. Try to be as specific as possible. For each item, identify the problem and its solution, and think about how you can help solve it.

Set yourself ambitious but realistic goals. There are many cases throughout history where activists helped save empires, freed the oppressed, and simply made important discoveries. And now even teenagers can improve their environment or influence the social life of their country by participating in it. If you want to achieve something, it is very important to clearly understand what kind of result you want to achieve and how you can get there.

• For example, preventing negative climate change that are caused by people is too global a goal, and it cannot be achieved just like that. But you can influence this by thinking about new possible standards for transport and industry.

Should you be an activist, should you try to change something in the outside world, or is it better to prefer working on yourself to external actions? The discussion started by the remark of the monk Diodorus (LARIONOV) is continued by the head of the Tradition charity foundation Vladimir BERKHIN

Father Diodorus (Larionov) in a recent note denounced social activism as one of the guises of pharisaism. They say that the essence of activism is to oppose one’s own good to the evil of others, to abstract oneself from specific neighbors, or even to despise them.

But you need to act exactly the opposite: not move away from people, but get closer to them, and not try to change the world, but change yourself. And then everything around will also change, although not immediately, and thousands will be saved.

A reasonable position, with in the right words. But it has little to do with the real life I know. I see these same activists every day, work with them and sometimes relax. And I did not notice among them either contempt for their neighbors or reluctance to work on themselves. Nor, moreover, contempt for the particular, neglect of the concrete.

Yes, there are people there who are too hot to the outside eye. There are people suffering from internal discord who use external actions to suppress some kind of internal pain. But such people are everywhere - among athletes, among those who like to glue models of tanks in 1/64 real size, among Orthodox believers who, instead of establishing relationships with their own family, can walk from Moscow to Valaam and back.

All the activists I know - whether they are politically, environmentally or socially concerned - have already, in one way or another, paid tribute to the point of view of Fr. Diodora. They have already managed to “start with themselves” and “solve specific problems.” Moreover, all of them - absolutely all - started with exactly what Fr. recommends. Diodorus - in order not to separate the general and the particular. Accept some of the common guilt, repent, try to do something about yourself. A huge part of the people I know who participate in political activism also went through a stage of extreme religiosity. They also know how to repent.

But it was not out of natural laziness or pride that they became activists. And from the fact that they understood that the path described by Fr. Diodorus, in the cases of the laity, is most often nothing more than a way to calm the conscience and do nothing. They say, I’m not like these, angry and opposed, I’m repenting and humbled here alone.

The usual path of a person to activism begins with attempts to help one or another neighbor, caused by simple human feelings. From a chance visit to a nursing home, when it turns out that the old people there are sleeping on rotten sheets under the drip from the ceiling. From a chance acquaintance with a man who is constantly suffocating from a rare disease, and who is supplied with toxic generics instead of quality medicines.

Every activist started with particulars. Not out of contempt for a particular neighbor, but just the opposite - out of warm sympathy, out of an attempt to help his neighbor. And only having encountered one or another wall, a person moves on to more general level work. The general is not opposed to the particular, but grows out of it. Specific problems are just an expression of some general trends and these trends should also be worked with, and even sometimes by inflating public campaigns and publicly denouncing people who directly harm their neighbors.

In the end, when St. Dmitry Donskoy came to St. Sergius of Radonezh asked for blessings to “solve” some common problems by actively opposing himself to Mamai; he was not told that he had to accept part of the common guilt with the Tatars and learn meekness and humility in the hope that one day everything would change. He was blessed for the hardest of possible options activism.

What Father Diodorus offers is normal Christian advice to those who have confused the internal and external, who, in the struggle for a just cause, have ceased to see the shores and, along with the water of social evil, have thrown out the child of a good attitude towards people. Yes, activists of this kind are found, and in absolutely all camps and directions. But to equate everyone with the same brush, to oppose them and to stop seeing them as complex people, with their own motivations, their own relationships, with hearts unknown to us - this seems to be what Fr.’s denunciation is directed against. Diodora.

Forbes: Even though you look a little strange in the photo side by side, it looks like you are twins who were separated at birth—there are more similarities between you than you think.

Bono: High growth!

Forbes: You both played chess as children. You both went to college, but didn't finish your studies. You both have created a global business. Both of you were heavily influenced by your first trips to Africa: Bono after Live Aid, and Bill going on safari with [wife] Melinda before his honeymoon. And you both consider Nelson Mandela one of your main heroes. So, with all that said, Bill, confirm or deny: the first time you had the opportunity to meet Bono, you didn't want to do it because you thought it would be a waste of time?

Bill Gates: Yes, we have a mutual friend - Paul Allen [co-founder of Microsoft], and he told me several times: “You know, Bono is very concerned about the problem of poverty and everything that you do, you should talk to him.” I have to admit, I didn't listen too closely. And then there was the Davos meeting in New York after 9/11, where we met with Bono and Bill Clinton, and I was, frankly, surprised when I realized that he really knew what he was talking about and really wanted to do something . It was phenomenal. Since then, we have become close partners in our “tricks.”

Forbes: Bono, you said you learned a lot from Bill. What did he teach you and why did you seek to meet him?

Bono: Before I tell you what I learned from Bill, I want to tell you what I taught him. I'm not Sonny Bono at all (laughs)… it is not true. Here interesting story that there is no need to make claims against your friends. I said to Paul Allen, “Can you help me talk to Bill Gates? We obviously need to professionalize what we're doing, and we need money, and I know both he and Melinda are interested in the same things that I am." Paul is a pretty reserved guy, but he usually answers emails, but then he suddenly stopped writing. I got a little angry: “Somehow this doesn’t seem friendly.” It was the first thing I ever asked him for. I didn’t even realize that he was telling Bill about this, and Bill was saying something like, “No, I don’t want to meet him. This is Sonny Bono, fuck him.”

I met with Bill and Melinda and told them, “Look, I have my own organization with very, very smart people. Brilliant people. But we need more professional organization" During those years, President [George] Bush [Jr.] took over the White House, and we felt that the relaxed appearance with which we appeared at Bill Clinton's receptions was no longer appropriate, and we needed to become more formal. We got $1 million from Bill [Gates]. Then he told The New York Times or something like that that it was the best million he'd spent. This is a big compliment, especially coming from Gates, and finding money after such words becomes much easier.

I was shocked when I realized how important the role of business is in the fight against poverty and the role that entrepreneurial initiative plays in lifting people out of poverty. Today capitalism is in the dock, it is customary to blame it for everything. The feeling that there is an “us” and a “them”, the 99% and the 1%, winners and losers. But often such reasoning is far-fetched, if not downright ridiculous. Charity in the 21st century is changing its shape and appearance. One of the things I learned from Bill and Melinda is that you shouldn't just spend your money on philanthropy, but use the power of your mind.

Forbes: Bono, you called yourself an “adventurous capitalist.” Can you tell us a little about the RED initiative, how your civic work ties into entrepreneurship, and how you manage to create change and raise so much money for charity?

Bono: I remember meeting Bob Rubin after he resigned as US Treasury Secretary. We asked him for advice on solving HIV/AIDS problems. And he said, “You know, if you want to do this, you should do it like Nike does it. You need to explain to America the scale of the problem and how to solve it. And you'll obviously have to spend $50 million, just like Nike spends money to market its ideas." I asked him, “Bob, where are we going to get this $50 million?” “And this is your problem!” - Rubin answered.

This is how we created the RED organization. RED and the [Bill and Melinda Gates charity] Gates Foundation - by the way, I couldn't have done any of what I did without the help of the Gates Foundation - tried to tie together companies like Apple and Microsoft, fashion house Armani and Starbucks. At the French Open, all the great tennis players came out with red racquets because the manufacturer Head joined us. With the help of RED, we raised $207 million from corporations to purchase drugs for HIV-infected people and for large-scale campaigning. Legislators always sense when times get really tough. But when we first came to Congress with our problem, the proper tension was not felt among parliamentarians; they did not understand how important the fight against the virus is. So we went to shopping malls to make our case to ordinary people. With their support, we fought for government funding. When RED seeks to “popularize” an issue, another organization comes into play - ONE. Its function is to raise money for charitable purposes from budgets large countries, like Germany, France or Britain.

Forbes: If Bono is an activist turned capitalist, then you, Bill, are one of the consummate capitalists and philanthropists, and being an activist only increases your influence. Can corporate philanthropy and social activity be effective individually or do they have to be combined?

Gates: It seems to me that the task of any charitable activity is to reach wider sectors - government and business. For example, let's say you have a goal to reduce the number of children under five who die each year. Direct charitable activities associated with the invention of new vaccines, their purchase and delivery of vaccines will not lead to significant changes in this area. You need to attract the brightest minds from the pharmaceutical companies involved in the invention of vaccines, get help from the budgets of benevolent rich countries interested in solving the problem, come into contact with people on the ground in developing economies, understand how work is structured there to solve the problem . If you don't delve deeply into all these issues, you are unlikely to be able to truly influence anything.

There are situations, for example with some malaria vaccine research, where philanthropy can actually pay for a significant, perhaps even the bulk of the work. But if you start to deal with logistics problems, understand the efficiency of spending the $130 billion that developed countries allocate every year to help poor countries, achieve transparency of spending, build a network of partners and activists “on the ground,” then you win. The number of deaths will be halved over the next fifteen years.

Forbes: You have already mentioned the problem of corruption. How do you ensure that money does not simply go to support corrupt officials?

Gates: It depends on how measurable the sector in which you operate is. In the case of healthcare, it is quite easy to calculate how many people survived due to the supply of medicines. If the number of measles patients in a year decreases from 1 million to 300,000 people, we understand how many portions of the vaccine reached the final recipient. Everything is very simple. If you buy vaccines and ship them into the country under controlled supply, you only spend a little extra on staff training and labor, ensuring a high return on your own investment as a philanthropist.

The opposite example: you want to build a road and give money to the government, but the road does not appear, although the project budget has increased exponentially along the way. It is better not to get involved with such initiatives. For the poorest people, assistance with health and agriculture, that is, health prevention and normal nutrition. If the level of corruption in these areas of charity, on average 5% of the total budget, does not suit you, well, you are an incorrigible idealist and helping those in need is not for you.

Bono: There is another remedy for corruption. A kind of vaccine. This is transparency. One of the revolutionary innovations we have achieved within ONE is full access to all information about commercial transactions. Donors must have full control over how their donated funds are spent.

Forbes: Numbers always go side by side with transparency. Bono, you recently revealed a secret: you happen to be a numbers fan. Let's talk a little about this passion of yours.

Bono: I was just pretending to Bill. I'm Irish, and the Irish are good at pretending what they want. I've learned to be a fact-based activist, cutting through the wall of bullshit, finding out in detail what works and what doesn't work in philanthropy. Strengths projects need to be developed, weak ones need to be gotten rid of. I'm not part of the hippie tradition and I'm not saying "let's all join hands and make the world a better place." I'm more of a punk rock guy.

As for numbers, I just like math. This is something amazing! I recently said that 9 million AIDS patients in the world have access to the necessary medications. In 2003 there were 50,000 of them. Amazing, right? Thank you to the taxpayers who made this possible. The numbers work. Over the past ten years, child mortality has decreased: there are 7,256 fewer deaths per day. The number of deaths per year has dropped from 9.4 million to about 7.2 million. I like these numbers. These are cool numbers. In my head they form poems.

Forbes: Great. Then, based on the numbers, what is the biggest change that each of you has made?

Gates: In philanthropy you have to constantly learn new things: visit places where work is being done, meet scientists, study statistics, put data together. In health, we have struggled to understand how to make primary health care effective and have found the benefits of distributing vaccines and educating mothers about pre- and post-natal behavior, nutrition and reproductive health. It's amazing how little money some countries spend on primary care and still vaccinate 95% of children, while others are ok with funding at an alarming 30% vaccination rate. We strive to ensure that the system of personnel training and assistance to those who do everything correctly works correctly and without failures, so that the statistics do not lie, so that there is someone to help others.

The biggest change in our program to advance American education was that in the first four years we focused on the structure of schools, rather than on allowing just good teachers to learn from other very, very good teachers. good teachers. Then we changed everything because we realized that what we called the development of small schools increased their efficiency by 10-15%, this was not enough. We focused on finding out how feedback works for teachers, what practices can be learned from the best teachers, how to systematically improve staff qualifications, and not just create a compensation system secondary to professional development, analysis and statistics. Now the model is working, but how long did it take to sort out all the problems?

Bono: We have learned a lesson about the link between transparency and development. Ironically, the two main players in the act we call "development assistance" - the two parts of the equation who know the least about it - are the taxpayer and the child who receives the vaccine or the student sitting in the classroom. We are struggling to establish missing communication, it's time for them to learn about each other.

I remember how we were working on the issue of debt forgiveness and arrived in a ghetto on the outskirts of Accra. This place had no latrines at all, even though 80,000 people live there. A few years later, after we had achieved economic benefits and the money saved had been well spent by the Government of Ghana, I visited the area again - and this time I saw the latrines! I thought, “Wow! We need to go there!” And I went in, sorry for the details. And here I am standing there, looking at the wall, and on it it says: “Made with HIPC money.” HIPC. What is HIPC? I'll tell you. HIPC was a UN idea - helping the poorest countries with high level public debt. The activists of this project have done a lot to cancel debts. And they hung up these signs! But does anyone know what it is?

Forbes: If rock music suddenly stops working out, then I’m sure there will be a job for you in lobbying. I know that you were born into a merchant family and became perhaps the most effective lobbyist in the world. How did you do it?

Bono: Oh, thanks. The main thing in this matter is to have something to lobby for, to have ideas. When we met with Angela Merkel a couple of months ago, or when Bill and I recently participated in negotiations with the French government, it was fundamental for us to repackage our own arguments, to convey our thoughts in a correct, understandable and extraordinary form. Our strategy can be called this: first internal maneuvering of ideas, then external mobilization and at the end - a peak moment when you can lean over to a politician and, if he is rude to you, simply say: “Soon we will be performing at a stadium nearby...”

Forbes: And the last question. There is a lot of pressure on you as people expect something big from both of you. Do previous successes weigh on you when you start something new?

Gates: Well, yes. But it's interesting. There is always the possibility of failure. I think Warren's [Buffett] generosity to our foundation has made this problem particularly acute, because if you're talking about money that you've made yourself, you can say, "OK, I'm allowed to be wrong." With his money - despite the kind words that our failure would not be a disaster - I would not want to fail. Actually it's funny. You wake up in the morning and think: “Am I doing good enough? Am I thinking in the right direction? Have I chosen the right people? Why did I think it would work when it didn’t make sense?” Everything is very dynamic, but I am glad that in charity I face the same difficulties as in business.

Bono: Actually, I haven't given up my full-time profession yet, although there's always the possibility that U2 will release an album that no one wants to buy. According to my group members, if I continue to attend events like this, such a day will come sooner than we think. I'm in a difficult position, you know, because I have to find a balance between art, which I have a knack for, and commercial activities. At U2, I sell melodies, I sell songs. And here I am trying to sell ideas, but at the same time I have to believe in them myself, only then will I be a very good seller. I feel a lot of pressure because I don't want to ruin what I'm doing now. I feel it, I know everyone in the ONE program feels it, and everyone in the RED program feels it because we are making a difference. Nelson Mandela asked us to do good, and Desmond Tutu regularly threatened us that we wouldn't go to heaven if we didn't do good, but in fact, as Bill said, the main pressure comes from within.

When you do philanthropy, you see how people can't stand it because they often the question comes about life and death. Bill and I are very lucky because we drink a lot. Joke. We actually really enjoy doing what we do. It's amazing how much has been achieved in the last ten years. In addition, you have to communicate with Warren Buffett, and he is very funny.

Dmitry TRUDOVOY: “A trade union activist must be crazy”

Dmitry ZHVANIYA

Those who follow the development of the Russian labor and trade union movement, and even more so participate in this movement, know about the activities of the primary organization of the Interregional Trade Union "Workers' Association" in Kaluga, which is represented at the automotive industry enterprises of the region: at the Volkswagen and Benteler plants " and "Peugeot-Citroen". Its chairman is Dmitry Trudovoy. Considering what this person does, his last name is perceived as a pseudonym. But that's not true. This real name, which is very symbolic.

MPRA in Kaluga constantly defends the rights of workers in the local automobile industry. And for this, its trade union activists are subject to pressure, and sometimes even repression, from the authorities and security forces, including the FSB. Governor of Kaluga Region Anatoly Artamonov in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper in April 2015, he promised to “hit in the teeth” the organizers of the MPRA rally. “Let them call and say: Anatoly Dmitrievich, we want to meet with you and discuss this issue, we are not succeeding in negotiations with such and such enterprises. And there is no need for any rallies. What a shame. It’s bad when trade unions are politicized,” complained the “servant of the sovereign.”

And shortly before this, on March 21, 2015, the police detained 20 participants in a meeting of the Kaluga MPRA. The police explained the detention by saying that a man had been robbed on the street, and the suspects ran into the building where union members had gathered. At the police station, as Dmitry Trudovoy said, the activists were interrogated by employees of the Center for Combating Extremism. They tried to intimidate the activists, photographed them, and even took fingerprints from 12 of them (three refused this procedure, despite the pressure). “It turned out that among them (the detainees - editor's note) was a visiting leader of the trade union movement. He already stated this at the police department. Naturally (!), the duty officer called the employees of the Center for Combating Extremism,” said the head of the press center of the regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Svetlana Somova, answering a question from journalists about the reason for the interest in the activities of the trade union on the part of fighters against extremism.

And trade union activists gathered together on March 21, 2015 to discuss how to counteract the decision of the management of the Volkswagen and Peugeot-Citroen concerns to carry out significant reductions in work teams. “We are ready to stand up for our rights. We will use different forms of peaceful protest, from rallies and pickets to strikes,” Dmitry Trudovoy said then. And it was in response to his words that Governor Artamonov, a native of a large peasant family, responded with a promise to “hit in the teeth” the organizers of the rallies.

The other day Dmitry Trudovoy came to St. Petersburg for a conference of the Confederation of Labor, at which activists of real trade unions discussed methods of fighting for increased wages in conditions of economic and social depression. During the break, we talked with Dmitry about the trade union, the mood of the workers and his personal motivation.

Dmitry ZHVANIYA. I read that Volkswagen management is turning to the security forces for support in order to crush your union. This behavior is unusual for a foreign capitalist...

Dmitry TRUDOVY. I think that in fact the employer is interested in the existence of a powerful militant trade union at his enterprise. It is easier to negotiate with such a trade union, which actually represents the work collective, discussing all the details of the collective agreement. If workers are satisfied with the collective agreement and if this agreement is respected, then workers will not go on strike or express dissatisfaction through other methods. A civilized employer understands this very well.

But we live in Russia, where all types of independent initiative arouse suspicion from the authorities. The regional administration does not need any strikes on “its” territory. She is afraid of getting a scolding from the central government for this: “What is going on there?!” So she puts pressure, setting the FSB and Center “E” against us, putting us on a par with ISIS, calling us “national traitors.” All this is being done in order to intimidate workers and ensure that they leave the union.

What is the number of MPRA in Kaluga?

About one and a half thousand people. Almost half of the workforce belongs to our trade union.

Impressive!

The concepts of “trade union member” and “trade union activist” should not be confused. Many workers let us activists understand: we joined the trade union, as you suggested, and you, cool guys, now do everything for us, fight for our rights and higher wages, in a word, resolve issues. And there are few crazy people. Most people live by the principle: “I don’t touch anyone, but don’t let anyone touch me either.” And to be a trade union activist, you need to be crazy, even frostbitten.

“The employer is interested in the existence of a powerful militant trade union at his enterprise. It’s easier to negotiate with a trade union that actually represents the work collective,” Trudovoy believes.

That is, the authorities are achieving their goal by putting pressure on the trade union?

To be honest, the main obstacle to the development of the labor and trade union movement in Russia is our workers themselves. They are not ready to take risks yet. Weighing on the scales what is more important for them: a bright future or a calm present, they most often make a choice in favor of a calm present: “let me be in poverty, let the management oppress me, spread rot, but I will be calmer.” They are making a conservative choice: whether we will achieve anything with the union or not is not clear, but it is absolutely clear that the struggle for a bright future creates problems in the present - and in the future it may become even worse than now. That's how they reason. And they make a choice: let it be bad, but familiar.

Many workers let us activists understand: we joined the trade union, as you suggested, and you, cool guys, now do everything for us, fight for our rights and higher wages, in a word, resolve issues.

Do workers make this choice after family council?

It is the collective that makes such decisions. To be active or not to be active is a decision that the family can influence. It’s up to the collective to decide whether to join a trade union or not. They figure everything out and discuss it in teams. The main reason for the apathy is the workers themselves. They don't take risks.

And during negotiations with an employer, you need to understand how many people are ready to support you. The employer makes concessions only when there is power behind you. Only through struggle can something be achieved. And even when, at first glance, there is no struggle, it is present as a threat. It seems that at Volkswagen we managed to achieve a lot without a fight. In fact, before this, we annually had conflicts with the employer, pre-strike situations arose, and we carried out Italian strikes. Which ultimately forced the employer to change its approach. He drew conclusions, realizing that it was better not to conflict with the MPRA, that it was better to negotiate with us. And since 2012, we have not had any serious conflicts at the enterprise.

Alexey Etmanov believes that the passivity of Russian workers is both a consequence of their poor education and awareness, and the fact that they received all social rights not as a result of struggle, but for nothing - from the Soviet system...

Maybe... Maybe... But I have a slightly different opinion. What's the matter? Many workers have no idea better life. They came out of a feudal society, or even out of the Stone Age. He is already pleased that he is taken to work, fed for free in the factory canteen, and also given a salary of 20 thousand. And he is already happy. He believes that there is nothing better in life. And he doesn’t even imagine that it is possible to live better.

“When I came to work for Volkswagen, everyone was hearing about the trade union at the Ford plant near St. Petersburg, created by Alexei Etmanov (pictured),” says Trudovoy

But this observation only confirms the thesis about the low culture of our workers...

Certainly. I just look at it from a slightly different angle. Yes, no one showed our workers the horizons.

The main obstacle to the development of the labor and trade union movement in Russia is our workers themselves. They are not ready to take risks yet. Weighing on the scales what is more important for them: a bright future or a calm present, they most often make a choice in favor of a calm present: “let me be in poverty, let the management oppress me, spread rot, but I will be calmer.”

What is your union doing now that there is a crisis in the country?

Now it is pointless to fight for a salary increase. But what if the employer really has no money? For two years now, the enterprise has not only not been making a profit, but has been operating at a loss. Therefore, we are negotiating to expand the rights of the workforce in order to expand its sphere of influence.

We are currently trying to conclude a non-discrimination agreement with management. Before us, no one had ever concluded such an agreement in our country. It should protect employees from pressure from the administration. Often foremen and shift supervisors communicate with workers as if they were cattle. Rudeness has become a tool of personnel management. He oppresses you, and if you do not obey, it will be even worse for you. In 2012, I came across the Prohibition of Discrimination Regulations, it was adopted by Volkswagen in Germany, and it talks about mobbing ( various types bullying - approx. D.Zh.), humiliation based on nationality, sexual harassment, and so on. We decided to transfer this document to Russian soil. We have been negotiating with management about this for two years. And now it has moved forward.

According to this Regulation, when there are employee complaints about harassment and bullying, a commission of employees is created. She conducts an investigation, and if it confirms the complaints, she comes to the conclusion that they are justified, she does not refer the matter to the HR department, but issues an order herself. And the HR department is obliged to fire the culprit. This gives employees power. Everything that is spelled out in the draft Regulations on Discrimination is still prohibited by the Collective Agreement and the Internal Labor Regulations (ILR). But now these cases are reviewed by the human resources department, which is often in concert with management.

The traditional trade union - from the FNPR - is trying to block the adoption of this provision. The fact is that they have quite a lot of trade union foremen and managers. They hold meetings with the workers and frighten them: “Do you even imagine that now you won’t be able to send anyone?! It won’t even be possible over the pid...om! Now that would be discrimination!” In a word, they are hanging noodles on our ears. But a lot of people fall for it.

I understand that there are different types of sexual harassment. But mostly it is men harassing women. Are there many women working in your factory?

Of course, sexual harassment is primarily a problem for office workers. And among the workers, about 20 percent are women. I remember there was a case when a foreman was courting a worker, offering himself to her as a guide on the way home... And then, when he didn’t get his way, he began to find fault with her work, found some mistakes, gave her disciplinary sanctions for this, thus letting her know that her life is becoming difficult due to the fact that she rejected his advances.

Previously, such cases were dealt with by the personnel department, and among personnel service workers, as I said, with foremen a good relationship- Vasya-Vasya. Their boss will always be clean and innocent of anything. And our initiative gives the consideration of such cases to the employees themselves.

What brought you to the trade union? Why did you become a union activist?

I went to work for Volkswagen as a mechanic, having higher education, quite a good education - I graduated from the Russian Law Academy, I am a lawyer by profession. First, I graduated from a commercial university, and then I needed to get a diploma as well. state university, and I entered the law academy. But, having received a law degree, I did not find a job in my profession. Nobody took me. Lawyers with experience were needed everywhere. I tried to get a job as an assistant to a lawyer. He told me: “I’ll take you, but you’ll pay me five thousand rubles a month.” I shrugged... He told me: “What’s wrong? Everything is fine! I’m giving you the opportunity to gain experience.” That is, he offered me not only to work for free, but also to pay for working.

And by that time I had just gotten married, I needed to support my family, I wasn’t happy with the lawyer’s offer, I worked as a loader for a while... I had a search process. But in the end I came to work for Volkswagen, for a promising enterprise. Got a job as a mechanic. And this work makes you stupid. No implementation. I couldn’t help but wonder: “Why are you in this world? Just to work as a mechanic?” I was very upset by the fact that I did not experience a sense of self-realization. My career wasn't going well. Then I realized why...

The Ford union showed that with the help of strikes it is possible to achieve higher wages, improved working conditions and, in general, a decent collective agreement. This example turned out to be contagious. And we decided to repeat his experience.

Why?

If you are a good employee, does it make sense for management to move you somewhere higher? No boss will refuse a specialist. You will have to hire a new employee to take your place, train him, and he will inevitably make mistakes.

Did you already have any plumbing skills before you got a job at Volkswagen?

No. They quickly appear at the factory if there is a desire. In a word, I began to seek self-realization through trade union activism. I realized that I was needed and in demand in the trade union. The plant only needs my hands to tighten the bolts, but the trade unions need my knowledge.

Is it really possible that physical work in a factory only makes a person dumber? A worker, producing a material product, and therefore understanding what he spends his time and energy on, is in a more advantageous situation than a representative of the office plankton, who does not understand what he is doing at all...

“I see my purpose in intellectual work. Why did I study then? Graduated from university? To turn the nuts? - Trudovoy does not hide

It all depends on each individual person. If a person sees his fulfillment in physical labor, then yes, he can realize himself as a simple worker. I see my purpose in intellectual work. Why did I study then? Graduated from university? To turn the nuts?

Why did you choose the trade union as a tool for self-realization?

When I came to work for Volkswagen, everyone was hearing about the trade union at the Ford plant near St. Petersburg, created Alexey Etmanov. The Ford union showed that with the help of strikes it is possible to achieve higher wages, improved working conditions and, in general, a decent collective agreement. This example turned out to be contagious. And we decided to repeat his experience. In fact, the power of a good example is very important. The authorities understand this and therefore put pressure on us and try to intimidate us.

Did your participation in trade union activities somehow affect your personal life? After all, you went to work at a factory just to feed your family...

Reflected. At the plant I met a woman who not only supports me in everything, but is also an activist in our trade union. Our whole life is a trade union. We understand what we live for. And with my wife, whom I divorced, there was nothing to even talk about except about everyday problems...

23/09/2016

Social activity is both a worldview and a special state of mind. Be in the center public life a person is motivated by indifference, a heightened sense of justice, the inability to put up with abuses, the desire to help others, to work for the benefit of the village, city, country... We will pay attention not to major public figures, but to those activists who are very close to us. we already wrote

Activist with a plus sign

The qualities that an ideal public figure should have were discussed at one of the trainings held at the Kiev-Svyatoshinsky Center for Social and Psychological Rehabilitation of the Population (Boyarka). We offer readers a summary based on statements made by members public organizations cities.

The activist must be:

• patriot, social optimist, a little romantic;
• caring, responsive, friendly;
• calm, balanced, self-sufficient;
• honest, incorruptible, true to his principles and ideals;
• persistent, brave, a little bit of an adventurer;
• informed, competent, creative;
• organized, purposeful, ready for action;
• self-confident, sociable, diplomatic;
• open to change.

An activist must be able to:

• conduct systematic, creative and effective activities;
• interact with local authorities, representatives of business and public organizations;
• unite with like-minded people, work in a team, find a common language with representatives different layers society;
• formalize your activities into programs and projects, seek funding for them;
  communicate with media representatives, give interviews, cover your activities;
• choose a field of activity taking into account your abilities and knowledge;
• balance your strengths, set priorities, dose your loads;
• predict the results of your actions, resist attempts to manipulate yourself;
• calmly accept criticism addressed to you, objectively assess the extent to which it is fair, and learn from your own mistakes.

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The activist must be prepared:

• constantly learn, respect the laws, act in the legal field;
• conduct your activities in line modern trends social and technical progress;
• adjust your position depending on changed circumstances;
• switch to new directions if they are significant for the city or country;
• to be a public figure, the object of unfair attacks and even slander;
• take a hit and defend yourself;
• Monitor your physical and mental health, seek help from a doctor or psychologist if necessary.

An activist must have:

• systems thinking, strategic vision, practical skills in social activities;
• positive attitude, constructive approach, open-mindedness;
• adequate self-esteem, healthy self-irony and a sense of humor.

And these, of course, are not all the qualities inherent in an ideal activist, for there is no limit to perfection.

Activist with minus sign

Unfortunately, real life is far from ideal. So among activists there are completely different people (as well as among representatives of any other spheres of activity). Morbid social activity is characteristic of those who are often called “city madmen”: demonstrative, hysterical people who love to be the center of attention, constantly provoking public squabbles and quarrels. Scandalous protest activities are also carried out by “eternal revolutionaries” who understand only the language of struggle, paid provocateurs from among the mercenaries of political forces or business structures, employees of special services (including foreign ones), all kinds of businessmen who solve their problems, hiding behind beautiful slogans. There are also notorious losers who strive to assert themselves at the expense of others. Fortunately, normal, adequate and simply good people in public life there is much more. At the same time, paradoxically, they are often the targets of attacks and unfounded accusations.

Why do we sometimes get annoyed by socially active people?

The way the world works is that the engine of social progress has always been thinking, caring people who are ahead of their time: activists, social activists, fighters for justice, human rights activists, dissidents. These “troublemakers” are not always convenient and disrupt the usual flow of life, the so-called stability. They are most often treated as eccentrics - with bewilderment, irritation, and misunderstanding. And instead of providing activists with all possible assistance in serving society, many, on the contrary, are hostile against them, accusing them of all mortal sins.

The explanation lies in the field of human psychology. Unfortunately, those who irritate us the most are those who are better than us, more active, more successful. We are enraged by those who violate our comfort zone, reveal facts of injustice, make us doubt the correctness of our lives, and feel ashamed of our own inaction. As a result, human rights activists are perceived as slanderers, fiery fighters as hysterics, and consistent ones as fixated.

What you need to know about activists?

We offer several theses that will help to adequately perceive socially active people.

• An activist is an ordinary person who spends part of his personal time free of charge for the needs of the community. He acts at the behest of his soul, heart, his own principles, beliefs and ideas of justice.
• No one has the right to indicate socially active person what he should do and to what extent. This is his responsibility and his personal choice - which field of activity to give preference to, how much time and money to take from his family, what part of his leisure time to sacrifice.
• By donating his time and energy, the activist is not obliged to incur material losses. Honor and praise to him if he is able to at least partially compensate for the costs of his activities (programs, projects, international grants, donations).
• Keep a close eye on who is most turning the community against specific activists. Ask yourself what these people or forces need: to come/return to power or to maintain it; uncontrollably manage resources (local budget, land, etc.); hide facts of abuse, inefficiency and incompetence; resolve your commercial issues.
• Before criticizing an activist, ask yourself: 1) by what right do you do this; 2) do you have complete information regarding his personality, activities and the essence of the issue; 3) are you ready to do what you advise him; 4) how exactly you can help.

And even if you are not yet involved in public life, but if you closely monitor the activities of others and know the problems of your locality, you can already be counted among the novice activists. And even if it seems to you that for the most part they are not doing what they should, this indicates that you are already setting priorities and are ready to move from words to action.