Tolyatti is Russia’s Detroit. Situated on the Volga River not far from Samara, the city is home to some 700,000 people, and its workshops – which produce Ladas, Renaults, Nissans and Datsuns – are still the core of Russia’s automobile industry. Russian website Socialist.news recently published this reportage from AvtoVAZ, which shows the human cost of overtime and overwork at the city’s principal employer. With weak labour protections and union organising, Russia’s car workers face significant exploitation at the hands of management. We are grateful for their permission to publish a translation of it here.
At the end of November, a 58-year-old man died at Tolyatti’s AvtoVAZ car plant after a 12-hour shift. His colleagues said that he couldn’t take the extra shifts. Workers at other parts of the plant confirmed that they often do overtime and weekend shifts.
