The following will outline my initial ideas for an impact documentary.
Synopsis
This documentary will focus on the National Tertiary Education Union’s (NTEU) fight for a better and fairer Enterprise Agreement for RMIT’s Vocational Education staff. It will follow the NTEU’s strikes on the RMIT campus, and highlight the personal struggles experienced by staff who are not receiving fair wages and a healthy work environment. It will also feature interviews with experts in the field to inspire the audience to help in the ways that they can.
Outreach Overview:
The goal of the documentary is to inspire its primary audience, the students of RMIT, to join the staff in solidarity to bargain for better wages from the institution. The larger goal will be to accomplish actual material changes and help staff obtain the benefits that they are due.
The Political Context:
Exploitation of workers in jobs of passion is incredibly normalized. There is also often a lack of understanding by those who are financially fortunate on how much these workers suffer due to this exploitation.
The key players that are involved within this context are:
- RMIT Vice Chancellor Alec Cameron
- NTEU Branch President – Tricia McLaughlin
- NTEU Division Organizer – Rifai Abdul
- NTEU Division Organizer – Aimee Hulbert
Goals
- Raise awareness of the unfair work conditions of RMIT VE staff to RMIT students
- Convince students that the unfair conditions affect their education quality as well, due to lack of available resources given to staff.
- Advise students who want to contribute to the NTEU on ways they can contribute to the union.
- Raise funds for the union and pressure the university.
- Achieve a fair enterprise agreement for RMIT VE staff.
Audiences:
- Base Audience – RMIT students, Educational Staff that are not in the union
- Beyond core audience – Prospective students of RMIT, Students/staff of other universities
- How to engage with them – Garner sympathy with the documentary, pamphlets in class/pdfs on canvas to ask for solidarity and ways to support the union.
Key Messages:
- RMIT staff are not being paid fairly, your tuition fees are being pocketed by executives who play no part and have no care for your education.
- From a moral standpoint, we should demand workers be paid their fair share.
- If a fair Enterprise Agreement is agreed upon, staff will be better equipped to provide students with the help and guidance they deserve.
- Donate to the union fund if you are able to, and pressure the university on all avenues (Course surveys, strikes etc)
Partners:
- NTEU RMIT Branch members
- Student run organizations in support of NTEU (Socialist Alternative club?)
Connecting audiences to the campaign:
- Audience Journeys: Go to the NTEU website to learn more, Participate in the NTEU strikes, Sign a petition from students, Donate to the NTEU fund
- Deeper Engagement: Hosting Events in support of NTEU from the students on campus
- How News/Content will be distributed: Social Media (Reels/TikToks), Pamphlets on campus, PDF flyers on canvas/e-mail, NTEU Website