Just another cog in the machine

[DelphineduToit]

It is a good video but it pains me that so much paper is being used. NOT an environmentally conscious production. Would like to see this creativity with a 'green' attitude.

[MrSupertwo]

What a great Video! It's so creative and HONEST! Having worked in the Private Sector for years without a Union, I can attest to the Cut-throat Mentality out there. Unions may have their problems, but, I think Organization of the Workers to have a better voice and say is one of the Greatest Ideas that has come in the last 100 Years.

[primal9958]

Absolutely superb idea! Well done to whoever made this. Truly inspirational.

[karensinex]

We have been using this video in trainings, but I will be doing a training next week, and will not have access to internet. Is there a place we can download it? I have a copy of the pages, but I want to keep it with you, give you the credit. Thanks for this, very moving

[johninnit]

Sure - I've had quite a few requests for this so made a download version that you've very welcome to use: johninnit.co.uk/justanothercog­.avi

[Andrey266]

waste of paper ;)

[Sosialistisk]

wow!

[un1a]

Really good idea, simple and intelligent.  It is convincing!

[shelvedrecords]

This film is inspiring!

[tiveragh]

Very good the way negative changed to positive, and great music!

[mntlPurple]

The video is incredible!

Thanks for making it, socialism FTW!

[NorthernLights1953]

I was in a union once and , it was very clan,ish if you did not suck up to the higher up,s then you were not going to work much, the way I have seen it , most union,s and goverment,s are all corrupt , and it,s all about who you know, I want to do my best all the time and get paid for doing so, and help other,s along the way, give me some feed back . Gary B.

[johninnit]

Hi Gary. Sorry to hear about that - this must have been some time ago no, or somewhere I'm not at all familar with? In the UK unions haven't stopped anyone working or getting on at work since the 70's, and that kind of thing was far from universal then. I've seen bad decisions made in unions occasionally, but never had any experience of corruption. Actually, wanting to do your "best all the time and get paid for doing so, and help other's along the way" sounds pretty much like a union charter.

[nostriluu]

I accidentally voted you down and now have to make up for it. Unions serve many important purposes but pretending they are a utopia is another mistake. Pretending everyone is going to be motivated and a team player just because they're guaranteed a job is dreaming, presented with an overdone soundtrack. I think the real answer involves a much more fundamental look at people's contributions.

[johninnit]

@nostriluu Thanks for that. You're absolutely right of course. This is something of a worst case to best case - just joining a union certainly isn't going to make everything change. However, it is often a neccessary first step.

Unions are about more than job guarantees (a bad job still sucks even if it's guaranteed!). They're about people being able to have a voice at work, to feel justified pride in the job they do, and to earn a fair degree of respect for it.

Best wishes, John

[muchdrama]

Awesome waste of paper.

[johninnit]

@muchdrama Cheers ;)

Recycled all 76 pages, honest!

[muchdrama]

@johninnit

Oh, whew...!

[edgeyp12]

I posted a union song in the video response.

[edgeyp12]

Oh man, this is so awesome! Clever :)

[jetnerdx]

holy shit...

[tarponone]

Very nice, very true, very apt. Simple and to the point. Please accept my congratulations.

[civilizedworkers]

This is brillliant! Keep up the good work and I love the Moby track.

Cheers from Canada

[johninnit]

Thanks for that - Yes, 18's one of my faves too. The music is what makes it work really, so am very grateful that Moby is being so kind to amateur and indy film makers by making a bunch of his music free for video us at MobyGratis.

[johninnit]

@eulex10 - erm, you what?

[eulex10]

hitler was socialist who advocated workers rights?why did he oppose unions?

[pennybes]

The video is 'Deaf-Friendly' for those of us who cannot hear the spoken dialogue in YouTube, but could read captions etc. Well done, the feel is good. Penny (Deaf UCU member)

[pennybes]

I'm a Deaf Unionist and although there's a few things I would like to see improved, this video is accessible for us Deaf people with literacy skills. Makes a change, as most YouTube stuff does not have captions - inspiring work, well done, and getting to the point. Hope someone will do a similar one in Sign Language too.

Thanks!

[jerrysmagic007]

good job with this, our union has posted it on there website

[juicygi]

excellent piece of work - clever and punchy. and it doesn't smack of the earnestness so commonplace in most union advertising. pay attention labour movement! well done.

[diliyd33]

Very slick. Well done

[jeemie29]

really good idea for a video campaign - but it goes on for to long and loses it's momentum! As for trade unios - generally in favour, but last time I needed help my union rep was totally inept, no help and showed no desire to fight my case. I hope that was just a one of tho!

[johninnit]

You're right Jeemie - 2:42 is indeed too long. Took me a whole evening to edit the text down from 3 mins though, in order to make it read both ways properly, so I gave up on my aim of making it less than 2 mins. Sorry to hear your bad experience - I'd hope also a one off. Union reps in the workplace are nearly all volunteers and don't get extra money for the extra work, so they must generally be keen to help people to have put their hand up for the job.

[Greenmarine6]

It isn't really that hard just stop crying and get busy you would be surprised how much you can accomplish. I worked for a union once and it was terrible..it was all about senority and never on skill, I swore I would never work for another union again.

[johninnit]

As I said to Safetyguy, this isn't something I'd recognise. By 'seniority' (reading his comment) I'm taking it you mean people get new jobs based solely on length of service rather than on fair application or suitability for promotion. That sounds like something from the 70s frankly and isn't something I've experienced. Business has changed and unions too. Learning and skills are actually one of the main areas that the unions and the employers' lobby agree on in the UK.

[Labradorian1975]

Seniority provides an un-biased approch to handling our affairs. It gives us the power and the courage to speak up when we have a safety concern or file a grievance. It gives us the freedom to be an active union member without the fear that by doing so we could be unfairly punished by being skipped for promotion s and opportunities. Without it workers are left to their own devices to better themselves and the lives of their families, a system based on compliance, not skills and hard-work.

[Greenmarine6]

Why should we as the people rely on a union to give us opportunities. Opportunity comes from within an individual. If you don't like your place of employment make your self better, learn different skills...it just takes a little (careful now 4 letter word here) WORK!!!!! In my opinion Unions are good for one thing, keeping upper management from sucking up all the money. Other than that I'm a firm believer in making yourself better threw school or learning another skill. Is the way I did it

[johninnit]

We don't rely on the union for opportunities. There are three types of problem you might face at work - general issues on your terms and conditions which can be tackled as part of a bigger picture with others, specific instances of mistreatment by management, where a one-for-all approach makes your hand much stronger, and opportunity stuff around career development and promotion, which are an individual issue (though my union - NUJ - offers me professional training and networking too).

[clathanian]

Two thumbs up! What a wonderful and inspiring message.

[askantik]

This is brilliant. Thanks for posting it. By the way SafetyGuy, as for the lazy guy getting the same pay increase-- it's been my experience even at non-union jobs that the shitheads still get pay raises. And besides, it's hardly the union's fault that lazy good-for-nothings work at any workplace. Management should be taking the proper actions to ensure that employees who are worthless don't work there. The union will not stand up for you if you were a piece of crap on the job.

[TheSafetyGuy77]

but good work and professionalism...are rewarded more than fairly

Good work and professionalism have nothing to do with how you are rewarded within a union. Pay increases are not based on your quality of work; the lazy guy who tries to avoid work will get the exact same merit increase, because that is what the CLA says. Promotions also have nothing to do with the best qualified candidate; the person with the most seniority will get the first chance at it, regardless of how qualified they are

[TheSafetyGuy77]

The bottom line is that there is no longer a need for unions. In fact, in many cases the drive employers away and run companies into the ground. If you want a good example of what unions can do, look at Windsor, Ontario. A city that has long heralded itself as a Union Town now has over 14% unemployment; the highest in all of Canada.

[johninnit]

Sure - and plenty of former strong union areas over here have high unemployment now, as the industries which were highly unionised have been declining in general. Doesn't make the union less relevant. In fact in many cases, unions are at the front of reskilling people and getting the workforce ready for coming opportunities.

[clathanian]

There is a need for unions and unity which will always prevail. Often in my experience people judge unions and their officials to harshly when the fact of the matter is that unionised workplaces are statistically more productive, there is less sick leave and employees are happier. If you don't believe me, read the independent study by Dr Andy Charlwood from Warwick Business School which suggests that the benefits to employers and society equates to in excess of £300 million a year.

[johninnit]

This isn't a picture I'd recognise. In a previous job I held, the union took an active part in negotiating the details of a new performance related pay agreement, for example. Union principles are around fairness, and avoiding unfair differentials certainly falls into that - the gender pay gap or other types of unfair inequality at work. Unions will get angry if you're not promoted because of the colour of your skin, but hardly if you're not promoted because you can't do your job.

[rexam4856]

this was well done

[samshaw87]

Talent borrows, genius steals my friend. I hope you win, 'tis a fine appropriation!

[samshaw87]

This is pretty good, it's very similar to the Lopez Murphy campaign in Argentina, but I'm sure you didn't see that first right?

[johninnit]

heh heh - no, I actually stole 2 ideas - the backwards thing off a poem called A Lost Generation (which, now I look into it stole it off Lopez Murphy a year later - thanks for the tip!), and the script cards off of Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues (thought a copier would update it for the Office Space age).

[JumboEllex]

Maybe you should learn to read English in America. We don't get US films (movies) translated into Australian English but I believe 'The Castle' had to be redubbed for US viewers. In the word of one of your most prominent citizens, "DOH !!!"

[scoobacat]

The CWU Education Dept posted a link for this video on their website, and I'm so glad that they did.

This is a simple concept but works really well. I'm sure it took a while to get the right words in place so that the message made sense so congratulations!!!!!!!

[rg0057]

This is a clever video, although it attributes things to unions which are really instead brought about by competent owners and management where they exist, or by law enacted by responsive governments. In my view, unions are a symptom of bad management, not a solution to it.

[johninnit]

Cheers rg0057. You're right a lot of the things that go right in a workplace can come from enlightened management, though I'd contend that no matter how good a manager you are it's a lot easier to get there if you engage the workforce honestly and openly, and the easiest way to do that is through a union. Unions certainly do take on bad employers as you say, and the bad things that otherwise good employers occasionally do, but they can also be a serious force for good in well run workplaces.

[getdavemoore]

brilliant piece of work. has actually made me re-think about unions (which until now, i have always thought badly of) - to the creator, well well done, and thanks.

[lynnstephenson]

John, I think this is fantastic: really inspired. Well done.

[jinglesj]

Really clever concept. At first I felt very much like, gosh this is so familiar ... but it's nevertheless inspiring and shows that just you can help turn things around with a little support and dedication from your colleagues and your union. Hopefully it will hit the spot with others that come across it.

[johninnit]

Oh no, what an eedjit! Sorry I deleted someone's comment rather than reply to it by accident. It was a pithy point about half the amazon jungle being used in the making of this video. You're right, 39 sheets twice, but using recycled paper and recycled again after, honest!

[johninnit]

heh, yes, sorry about the organiSing in it :)

[OjnoTheRed]

Inspiration and devilishly simple. As a passionate unionist myself in Australia, will be sending this around to my union! Got me a bit weepy as well, being a unionist is pretty much what keeps me going at work.

[60SecondAdsContest]

This is great John, i have added it on to the 60secondadscontest page despite its over 60 seconds people maybe inspired by it, Its really great and hits the spot. Anna

[sergei5959]

I am not so quite in English. But, by means of common words and simple video picture the author has might promoted the idea of union very successfully. It is understandable not for Englishmen only. Good idea !

[tlinsenm]

wow! amazing. thanks a lot!

[hidayatgreenfield]

Fantastic! It's simple and to the point, really hits home.

[Yartzy2]

I got emotional watching this- its inspiring

[murdyful]

This was a great idea with a fantastic message. Good for you!

[KnickerbockerNancy]

An elegant script -- kind of like a 2-minute palindrome. Wonderful work!

[VineburgDyke]

Hope it's alright, but I'll be using this to organize workers into our union in California!

[russellhess]

Very nicely done. Sending it out to my friends on facebook and twitter in US. Thanks Labourstart for pointing this out.

[teamdovs]

This is an awesome idea, executed really well. Nicely done. Dovs

[greepo]

Brilliant. Love it.

[jennywrangborg]

This was really good!

[TheMaddog780]

outstanding video....thanks

[kajjohansson]

Great, great video! So simple and so effective! The idea of organizing is so great. Beautiful!

[Seven30onFriday]

Wicked, innit!

[johninnit]

Very true Donnacha. But I don't fancy our copier fighting back - it's bolshy enough already. No rights for office equipment here...

[donnachadelong]

Great video, John, alas, sometimes, even being fully unionised won't turn things around (just look at the media cuts). Unionising is one thing, learning to fight back is the next step.