Soviet GULAG prisoners were paid a market wage and had 8 hour workdays .

So I was reading the evidence based debunking post by Comrade u/flesh_eating_turtle (thank you very much) and I stumbled across this CIA article .https://ift.tt/39lt26d page 3, article 13 shortly summarized describes gulag prisoners, working and crippled alike, being paid for their services and having 8 hour work days . So I google searched for more information and found this :Compensation Versus Coercion in the Soviet GULAG https://ift.tt/356qW6F. “ By the time the Gulag system was abandoned as a major instrument of Soviet industrial policy, the primary distinction between slave and free labor had been blurred: Gulag inmates were being paid wages according to a system that mirrored that of the civilian economy described by Bergson..”2. “The Work Credit SystemThe Gulag administration used a “work credit” system, whereby sentences were reduced (by two days or more for every day the norm was overfulfilled). The evolution of this specific motivation system implemented in GULAG in 1930s and at the end of 1940s – beginning of 1950s is described on our separate paper (see endnote). This incentive system, which all participants understood was among the most effective, also threatened to drive a wedge between camp managers who needed more production now and the Gulag Administration, which had to consider the loss of inmates through early releases” 3. “Monetary Bonuses for Good WorkStarting from the very beginning (in early 1930s) the Gulag Administration used differentiated monetary payments (premvoznagrazhdeniia) for work performed by Gulag inmates. Those payments were not substantial (1.5-2 rubles per day)8 and they were paid to inmates as rewards for fulfilling work plans. Throughout the 1940s, administrative reports referred to these payments as “monetary rewards” and “monetary bonus remuneration”. Prior to 1950, monetary payments were basically in the form of supplemental bonuses. The 1939 “Provisional Instructions on Procedures for Inmates in Correctional Labor Camps” required that monetary bonuses be credited to the inmate’s personal account up to a monthly upper limit.Inmates could also be given personal cash totaling no more than 100 rubles a month, subject to the approval of the division chief.Bonuses and personal cash were to be issued”piecemeal at different times, in such a manner that the total amount in an inmate’s possession does not exceed 50 rubles” . The 1947 procedures for Gulag inmates spelled out a similar terms for monetary rewards for overfulfilling production norms. According to Gulag director (Nasedkin), writing in 1947, inmates could receive cash amounts of not more than 150 rubles at one time. Any sums over this amount were credited to inmate’s personal account and were paid out as previously issued cash was spent.” via /r/communism https://ift.tt/2F3MEOj