Profizdat

the publishing house of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions (VTsSPS). It is located in Moscow.

Soviet trade-union publishing was initiated in 1918, when the publishing division of the VTsSPS was created by a resolution of the first All-Russian Congress of Trade Unions. A Feb. 28, 1930, resolution of the presidium of the VTsSPS established an all-Union central publishing house, Profizdat, to aid the Soviet trade-union movement by publishing and distributing literature for members and activist members (members of the governing bodies) of trade unions.

Profizdat publishes books and pamphlets discussing all aspects of Soviet trade unions and the international trade-union movement. It also publishes fiction dealing chiefly with contemporary Soviet workers (the series Library of the Worker’s Novel and Tales of Heroes of Labor).

For foreign readers, Profizdat publishes in Russian, English, Spanish, French, and German. Journals published by Profizdat include Sovetskie profsoiuzy (Soviet Trade Unions), Klub i khudozhestvennaia samodeiatel’nost (Clubs and Amateur Arts), Izobretatel’ i ratsionalizator (Inventor and Innovator), Okhrana truda i sotsial’noe strakhovanie (Protection of Labor and Social Insurance), Sovetskii shakhter (Soviet Miner), and Turist (Tourist), as well as the Russian edition of the WFTU organ The World Trade Union Movement.

In 1974, more than 340 book and pamphlet titles in more than 32 million copies were published, while the total circulation of journals amounted to more than 43 million. Profizdat also issues union cards, wage and payment books, certificates of disability, membership cards for voluntary sports societies, passes, and service awards.