People's Commissariat for Labour
The People's Commissariat for Labour was established by the Bolsheviks following their seizure of power during the October Revolution. It functioned as a ministry in the new government which was known as Council of the People's Commissars.Before the revolution, the tsarist regime had a Ministry of Labour which was replaced by the People's Commissariat for Labour. At the Fourth All Russian Conference of Trade Unions the Bolshevik Mikhail Tomsky proposed a resolution concerning the Relations between the Trade Unions and the Commissariat for Labour which stated that the October revolution had changed "the meaning and character of state organs and significance of proletarian organs as well". It was elaborated that previously the old ministry of Labour had acted as arbitrator between Labour and Capital, whereas the new Commissariat was the champion of the economic policy of the working class. Paragraph 9 of this resolution, which was adopted, removed labour relations from the purview of the Soviets to that of the Commissariat for Labour, which was controlled by the Bolshevik Alexander Shlyapnikov.
