From car crash to runaway success

I was working as a runner on the set of a Bollywood feature film, Me and Mrs Khanna, being made in Melbourne and was very eager to crack the market and prove myself to my employer.

The other runners and I were working steadily for 100 hours per week without overtime and some of us were forced to pay for damage to a production vehicle that we hadn’t caused, when we realised the conditions they were offering were sub-standard.

We realised how we were being exploited and when we looked towards the Alliance, we discovered how effectively the union could protect us and help us improve our working conditions.

With the help of Alliance negotiators we were paid a lump sum of $20,000 which represented the back pay we were owed and went towards refunding the money we had paid to repair the production vehicle.

But the most important thing for me was, it gave us confidence as far as our working rights go – confidence for the future. Without the assistance of the Alliance there’s no way a win or even acknowledgment of any mistreatment could have been possible.