Central Council of War and Labor Veterans of Railway Transport in Russia
 

Central Council of War and Labor Veterans of Railway Transport in Russia

The decision to establish the Central Council of Railway Transport Veterans was made April 26 1984 at a joint meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Railways of the USSR [/tag] and the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Trade Union of Railway Transport Workers and Transport Construction. This act completed the unification of the councils of veterans at railway transport enterprises and road councils of war and labor veterans established in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the All-Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of July 24, 1956 and May 4, 1958.


The Council consisted of 48 people. Ivan Vladimirovich Kovalev, the First Minister of Railways of the USSR, was confirmed as the Chairman of the Central Council, and his deputies were the head of the Department of MIIT, Professor V.A. Dmitriev, former Director of the Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Railways, Professor A.D. Karetnikov, former head of the Planning and Economic Department of the Ministry of Railways F.P. Mu—liukin and former head of the Inspection under the Minister of Railways I.I. Rodionov..
Five former deputy ministers, eleven current and former railway chiefs, a number of heads of the main departments of the Ministry of Railways, scientists and industry leaders, of whom thirteen had the high title of Hero of Socialist Labor, eleven current and former railway chiefs, were approved as members of the council.

Over the years, Heroes of the Soviet Union worked as part of the Central Military District: E.M. Berezovsky, a participant in the 1945 Victory Parade, E.M. Chukhnyuk, one of the three railroad workers who were the first to be awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor, participant in the Battle of Stalingrad, Deputy Minister of Railways V.F. Sosnin, and currently an electric locomotive driver Yu.N. Chumachenko.

In 2024, the Central Council of Railway Veterans turned 40 years old. During this period, the TSVT was headed by honored veterans of railway transport, who at one time held responsible positions in the Ministry of Railways, major public organizations of the USSR and Russia.: Ivan Vladimirovich Kovalev (1984-1991), Ivan Ivanovich Rodionov (1991-1996), Fyodor Iosifovich Shuleshko (1996-2005), Anatoly Yakovlevich Sidenko (2005-2010), Nikolai Petrovich Grom (2010-2021) and Nikolai Alekseevich Nikiforov (from 2021 to the present). Each of them persistently and purposefully worked to consolidate joint efforts aimed at improving the material, social and cultural level of pensioners, war veterans and labor enterprises, organizations and institutions of the Ministry of Transport and Russian Railways.


Today, the Central Council of War and Labor Veterans of Russian Railway Transport, elected in 2021, based on the experience of its predecessors, continues to work to enhance the role of patriotic education of young people, perpetuate the memory of outstanding railway workers, preserve traditions to celebrate Victory Day, Seniors Day, and organize "Memory Trains" to places of military and labor glory, conducting annual network meetings of the heads of veteran organizations, maintaining the activities of museums and rooms of labor and military glory, and much more.
Videoconference meetings have become regular with the chairmen of the interregional coordinating councils of veterans and the councils of
veterans of affiliated companies, with the invitation of the heads of regional councils of veterans, where current and future issues of veteran life are discussed, and above all, obligations to fulfill social guarantees provided for by the collective agreements of JSC Russian Railways and from
industry agreements on railway transport organizations and programs of JSC Russian Railways to support veterans. Work is being persistently carried out to bring the organizational structure in line with the decisions previously adopted by the Central Council of Veterans. Together with the Department of Social Development of Russian Railways and the Charity Foundation Pochet, a system of accounting for non-working pensioners of the company is being established.
The number of unemployed pensioners who receive a corporate pension in addition to their state pension through the Welfare Fund is constantly growing. Local authorities are also finding ways to provide assistance to veterans. It is widely practiced to direct funds received from clean-up activities to provide financial assistance to pensioners and purchase medicines and food for them, as well as hold various events related to celebrations, anniversaries and the organization of cultural recreation for veterans.
Together with the Charity Foundation "Pochet", work is underway to train pensioners to work on personal computers so that they can fully use the Russian Railways pensioner service portal to receive benefits and guarantees provided for in industry agreements and collective agreements.

Currently, meetings of honored railway workers with labor collectives, students of railway universities and technical schools, and students of secondary schools are in great demand. Members of the Central Council of Veterans are Hero of Socialist Labor Y.N. Chumachenko, Ministers of Railways L.I. Matyukhin and G.M. Fadeev, Deputy Minister of Railways V.N. , Senior Vice President of JSC "Russian Railways" B.M. , other former senior officials of the Ministry of Railways and Russian Railways, gather full halls at meetings with young people, listen to them with passion and always ask a lot of professional and everyday questions, which is a good incentive for young workers, motivation for work in railway transport and the desire to multiply the traditions of the elder generations.


Veterans pay great attention to the work of Children's Railways and communication with young railway workers, telling them about the outstanding contribution of railway workers and railway transport in general to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, their role in restoring the national economy in the post-war years, ensuring stable operation and further and dynamic development of the industry.
The Councils of veterans, together with the heads of railways, regularly organize "Memorial Trains" for Victory anniversaries and other memorable dates. As part of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the defeat of the Fascist troops near Stalingrad, large-scale events were held at the three railways training ground to mark the commissioning of the famous Volga Rockade and the Izhevsk—Balezino railway line. Commemorative events were held on the Southeastern Railway and dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the construction of the heroic Stary Oskol-Rzhava railway line, which played a major role in providing transportation for the landmark victories of the Red Army at Stalingrad and on the Kursk Bulge. Work is currently underway to prepare the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
Daily work is carried out to perpetuate the memory of the Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of Socialist Labor and other notable railway workers. Scholarships are being established, memorial plaques are being installed, and names are being assigned to sidings and stations.

Veterans pay a lot of attention and time to work in the Centers of educational work, patriotic education of the younger generation, and even vocational guidance in museums and rooms of labor and military glory.
Providing medical care to unemployed pensioners has always been and remains one of the main directions in the work of the Central Council of Railway Veterans. These issues are regularly discussed with the heads of Russian Railways healthcare, which brings the desired results and much is being practically done. Thus, thanks to the interaction of the councils of veterans and railway healthcare institutions, medical examinations of WWII veterans, elderly single and seriously ill veterans, as well as people with disabilities are consistently carried out at home. Mobile mobile complexes based on KamAZ vehicles and the Doctor Voino-Yasenetsky (Saint Luke) health train have been deployed to improve medical care for residents of remote stations in the northern and eastern regions of the country, and a new "health super train" is scheduled to be launched as early as 2024.
At the initiative of the Central Council of Railway Transport Veterans and thanks to the decision of the company's management, veteran councils are provided with facilities for working with veterans and more than 400 computers are supplied to them. This allows meetings to be held online with the involvement of all the chairmen of the Interregional Coordinating Councils of Railway Veterans, and promptly inform the veteran asset on the necessary issues.
Pensioners continue to master computer literacy, and veterans follow the news on social networks and information chats. As part of the implementation of the Russian Railways Veterans Program (2021-2025), the Russian Railways Pensioner portal began operating in February 2020, allowing non-working pensioners of Russian railway transport to enjoy all the benefits, guarantees and compensations provided in accordance with the Russian Railways collective agreement. By registering, a pensioner immediately gets access to many programs, numerous online clubs, and provides himself with feedback from a single social operator on comprehensive support and service for non-working pensioners.

Thanks to the systematic work of the central and road councils of railway transport veterans, work on organizing various sports events and competitions among veterans is noticeably improving on all railways. To support the most active athletes of retirement age, a large—scale International Sports and Healthy Lifestyle Festival, Silver Autumn, is held annually and every three years. About 200-250 veterans of Russian Railways, as well as teams of veterans of Belarus and Kazakhstan, participate in it.

Another important area of activity of the veterans' councils is the development of the "silver" volunteer movement. Today, there are about four thousand such veteran volunteers, united in detachments of "Silver Volunteers" who interact with youth volunteer headquarters and take part in actions conducted by territorial authorities. Almost all road veteran organizations are working to provide assistance to their participants, raise funds for the purchase of technical equipment, manufacture camouflage nets, trench candles, knitting warm clothes, etc.
In short, veterans have a lot of work to do. It is necessary for the veterans themselves, for the Russian Railways company and for the country. Mature people have done a lot, understand a lot, forgive a lot and are a reliable support in society and the state.