Shock worker

An udarnik (Russian: уда́рник; IPA: [ʊˈdarnʲɪk]; English plural udarniks or udarniki) was a highly productive worker in the Soviet Union, the Eastern Bloc, and other communist countries. The term derived from the expression "udarny trud" for "superproductive, enthusiastic labour", which is often translated as shock labour or strike labour (udar "shock, strike, blow"); udarnik is often translated as shock worker or strike worker. Related terms are shock labour team (udarnaya brigada, often translated as shock brigade or strike brigade) and Shock worker of Communist Labour (Ударник коммунистического труда), a Soviet honorary title. The terms are not directly related to the term shock troops, which is a translation from a German term, but by figurative analogy the terms are connotatively linked. The terminology of shock workers has also been used in other communist states, most notably in the People's Republic of China, North Korea, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The ideology behind promoting shock labour was that through socialist emulation the rest of the workforce would learn from the vanguard.

In People's Republic of Poland a similar title was przodownik pracy (the leader of workship, also can be understood as the teacher (mentor) of [good] work). The term is a calque from another Soviet/Russian term peredovik proizvodstva, literally "leader in production", which was also a formal title of merit.

...
Wikipedia