Today students mostly are not very rich people. The beginning of adulthood is usually accompanied by if not poverty, then certain deprivations. Especially when a young man wants to be financially independent from their parents, or if they are simply unable to support him.
However, such problems were not new for students and a century ago. The first director of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute V.Kirpichov in its report for 1898 wrote: "In the first half of the academic year of the institute it was revealed a heavy burden on our institutions of higher education - the extreme poverty of a large number of students which also exists in the Kiev Polytechnic Institute". To solve this problem, Victor Lvovich proposed the creation of a charitable organization. It began work in the spring of 1903 under the name "Aid Society for needy students."
The company opened the store of textbooks, a hostel for 30 people, " Labor office to search for lessons for students polytechnics ". After several years, the Company has received in its management the student cafeteria. The administration of the institute gave to the dining room only firewood. Students organized and carried out all other work – from hiring employees to farming and purchase products. Daily dining room served up to 800 people.
Members of the Society provided the material support of their colleagues. Money from the State Treasury, Kiev City Council, various public organizations, donations from individuals, income from the dining room and members’ fees were the sources of the Society funds. By the way, there were among the individuals, who gave money for the work of the Society, many of its former members – graduates of KPI.
During nine years (from 1903 to 1912), the Society has appointed financial aid for students 4614 times. It should be noted, that all its decision were taken openly and their legitimacy never has been questioned!
Among other activities of the Society it should be mentioned the work of mentioned before “Labor office to search for lessons for students polytechnics”. It is known that with its help during only three years (1908-1912) about 800 students found the work.
Therefore, given the goals, and, more important self-managing character of the Society activities, there are all the reasons to believe that it was a prototype of modern trade union of students NTUU “KPI”.
As for the staff of the institute, they made a first attempt to unite for defense of their interest a little bit later, in 1907, creating the Society of mutual aid workers and employees of KPI. Organization of the Society mutual fund was the first step of the new created group. Next step was creation of small library. Then the Society demanded the administration to increase the salaries of technical staff. The requirement has been met; the salaries of technical staff and employees of low ranks were increased up to 5-7 Karbovanets. However, at this stage the success of new created organization was finished. The new demands to administration to reduce the working hours and dismissal of the employees from performing any work that does not fall within the scope of their professional duties were not successful. The attempt to unite under Society most of the KPI staff was also unsuccessful. Teachers and certain part of employees were outside the Society. Therefore, it acted sluggishly, and with the beginning of the war in 1914, ceased to exist at all.
The next attempt to create their own professional association workers of KPI made only in 1917, after the revolution. Two organizations – the branch of city’s trade union “staff and employees” and teachers’ trade union – were created in the Institute in the same time. However, despite the same goal, close professional and human relations, the organizations worked separately. This work was carried out in a lack of money, confusion, frequent changes of government and periodic cessation of the Institute work. Finally, both organizations ceased their operation.
The real trade union committee was created in Kiev polytechnic Institute only in 1921. It was a branch of the united trade union of employees of education “Robos”. The name was accepted form of the abbreviation “robotniki osvity – educational workers”. Taking into account the fact, that in 1922 Kiev Agricultural Institute was created on the base of the Agronomy Faculty KPI, which operated during several years in the same premises as before, it was natural that local trade union combined trade union organizations of these both higher institutions. The trade union worked under guidance of the new authority, which with its inherent determination obliged to enter in a new alliance of all those who had something to do with education. However, the character of its activity was still far from politics, as evidenced by the names of its commissions: tariffs and norms, culture and education, distribution of rations and others. By the way, there are in the names of these commissions the names of problems, to encounter workers of KPI at that time. The main among them was poverty and lack of basic, necessary for life and work things.
Incidentally, apolitical attitude of the trade union has not gone unnoticed. Their members were reproached that during the meetings they consider "exclusively economic nature or isolated cases of conflicts with the administration.” Because the lack of money the cultural work practically did not exist. The minutes of the meeting of June 30, 1921, demonstrated the problems of the Institute’s trade union. The agenda of the meeting included among the others: firewood, improving the life of the Institute’s employees (to do this the establishment of leather and soap cooperatives were proposed), distribution among the trade union’s members the crop residues (produced a year earlier at the institute of agricultural machines tests), and others.
The situation changed in 1923. It could be explained by the fact, that the Civil war ended and constant difficulties of the wartime started to retreat. The new authority begun to look more closely to trade unions. The two existing trade union organizations were combined in one local committee №11 of the same city’s trade union organization “Robos”. The Board of managers included representatives from both higher institutions. The KPI teacher, known at that time airplane designer and popularizer of aviation, one of founder Aviation Scientific and Technical Society Andrew Kasianenko became the head of the Presidium. However, the problems to solve, which agitated most of six hundred trade union members, were pure earthly.
For example, there was in composition of Presidium the vegetable commission to distribute among the teachers and employees the pieces of land already mentioned research station KPI located on the farm Grushki (now a territory bounded by streets Garmatnaya, Vasilenko, Lepse Boulevard and Prospect Komarova). These gardens were handled by the workers of the Institute (individually of by the groups) and provided in those times of famine substantial assistance to their families. Local committee also organized a benefit fund, in cases of acute instability and gave the money to their members, even without a refund. Given the low wages received by educators, the union sought to provide them with reduced price tickets to use in public utility services, like bath, tramway and even cinema. At the same time union members - teachers of KPI and KAA - took an active part in the work of literacy, organized by the City’s trade union "Robos". More often, they began to participate in national campaigns. in the same 1923 on the general meeting of the union and the KPI and KAA there was a decision to join collectively the IAOFR - International aid organizations fighters of the revolution created by the decision of the 4th Congress of the Comintern.
Of course, the party and state authorities could not allow trade unions to work out of their control, so their activity gradually acquired certain ideological coloration, and within a few years, it became stronger and stronger. However, it should be acknowledged, that the assistance to people, providing his daily needs and meeting the cultural needs were the main issues for the Institute’s trade union. Along with the groups of study Marxism-Leninism, there were also cloth and shoes workshop, kitchen, gym. There were excursions and hiking, opportunities for students and teachers summer rest and many other things. By one word – trade union did what it must do.