Industrial Organization in Istkalen
Industrial organization in Istkalen closely follows the organization of society. The country is highly decentralized in this respect, particularly because of land reforms conducted in the late 1700s and the early 1900s which distributed land previously owned by the state, or rather the Emperor, to individual peasants.
Workers are organized first into "labor partnerships," or "partnerships of labor," composed of two individuals. This arrangement originated in the late 1990s, as a result of extreme crime and instability that made individual work outright dangerous. In the context of industrial organization, the two members of a "labor partnership" are effectively one; they are contracted or find work as a partnership, not as individuals, are expected to make decisions as a group rather than as individuals, and are expected to produce as a single unit rather than two. Partnerships may contract each other freely - for example, a metallurgist might contract steelworkers under certain scenarios; consumers, too, may contract individuals - a doctor to care for them, for example, or a craftsperson to make or repair some good. Contracting of this nature makes up the vast majority of the urban economy.
In agricultural work, contracting is not as prominent between workers and consumers, for clear reasons; agricultural producers will largely set the amount they produce themselves, although limitations and requirements are imposed by higher bodies. Most also seek to be self-reliant, seeking to refrain from contracting others to labor for them, although it is occasionally done. Collective but informal and usually voluntary labor is used to maintain larger infrastructure needed to sustain agriculture.
Most mines are organized as collectives, where labor-partnerships will enter and be assigned a role by a general assembly of all workers, or in extraordinary circumstances the "head" of the mine, who is usually, but not always, elected by the assembly. They do not employ individuals, instead opting to integrate them into the collective itself - a result of the often seasonal nature of mine employment The same applies to factories, particularly in heavy industry (light industry is largely craft-based in nature) although the system only arose after the abolition of the apprenticeship system; unlike mines, however, factory-collectives will occasionally contract others to work under the collective.
In light industry, contracting and informal relationships are dominant; workshops will often be constructed near or next to each other in related industries, in some cases within the same space. A machinist, for example, might have their workshop or workspace in a greater manufacturing compound, and send completed parts to another, contracted workshop for use in the creation of a larger product. This is largely an organic replication of the factory system, differing only in its partial rejection of the division of labor (division of the type described is only really practiced in the manufacture of more complex products, particularly electronics), as well as in its relative decentralization, which is criticized for inefficiency but also praised for being more humane.
In previous years, individuals in Istkalen could be formally employed. Prior to 2003, an apprenticeship system allowed individuals to directly employ great numbers for extended periods of time; this was, however, abolished by the Social Democrats and replaced by a system of state-administered vocational education involving work for the state, which plays a minor but noticeable role in Istkalen's greater economy.
"Partnerships of labor" are directly organized into ward-level "workers' associations," whose purpose is to organize the distribution of property and ensure broad social welfare. These organizations allocate capital and hold most productive property in the country, which they are responsible for lending to individual workers in exchange for a portion of the product, previously predominantly collected in-kind but now increasingly in financial forms. Corvee duties were previously organized through these associations, but were abolished under the tenure of Kalju Ilves. They also, however, exist to organize much of Istkalen's expansive welfare state, managing many of the "new" universal services that were introduced with the occupation, from public canteens to childcare.
Workers are also expected to render certain duties to the greater "workers' association" to which they belong; they must, when operating independently outside of public and state duties, hold to specific principles set out by it, particularly in regards to the methods which they use and the fees and prices they impose. However, they also defend and represent their members, particularly in regards to contracting and in matters of state.