Perceiving work competition as a strategic practice of a selected social system the author of the article examines the relationship between work competition and (public) holidays in the period of the first five-year economic plat of the Socialist Federal Rebublic of Yugoslavia (1947-1952). This relationship was mutual and similarly as in other socialist countries centrally planned as well as directed: holidays helped spreading the idea of competitive way of working as well as they helped structuring (working) time. On the other hand work competition helped rooting the new system of public holidays as well as it also structured and shaped holidays.
Post-war Czechoslovakia needed foreign labour and the ineffective system of planned economy even increased the demand. Polish labour was preferred in a significant way by Czechoslovak companies during the whole period of the communist regime. Therefore, some companies from certain industrial sectors, such as glass and textiles, became almost dependent on Polish labour. Overwhelming majority of the workers were women. At the same time, governments and central planning bodies of both countries tried to control and sometimes even limit the foreign workforce both from economic and political reasons. After the arrival of Polish guest workers, rumours about their immoral behaviour, perceived as hunting for husbands in Czechoslovakia in order to stay in an economically better developed country, spread among their Czech neighbours. This stereotype is based on facts in some cases but do not necessarily evince a relationship between cause and effect. It is likely that negative opinion on the Polish workwomen was infl uenced by a stereotypical view of their country of origin (and of foreigners in general) and their gender. Other reasons for taking a job in the CSR, like a wish to escape from social control at home as well as to obtain scarce commodities, played an important role.