Loading…
Film on a phone, keep member privacy, and send people to a real ask.
Also see
Hold the phone upright for Reels, Stories, and Shorts. Face a window, not a ceiling light. Speak close to the mic, or record a voiceover later in a quiet room. Shop floors and picket lines are loud; a short clip with on-screen text often beats a long take.
Privacy is the same checklist as photos
Video is harder to crop after the fact. Get consent before you press record, including people clearly visible in the background.
Photo Consent →Trim, captions on screen, and a voiceover belong in a phone editor. UnionOps does not edit video. Start with the camera app. Named apps below are common; none of them run inside this site, and some upload footage to a cloud.
FreeStays on the phone unless you export
Trim and titles without a new account. Prefer this when member footage should stay on the device.
Free tier, then paid extrasStays on the phone unless you export
Common for on-screen captions and simple cuts. Check whether a clip uploads before you sign in.
Free tier, then paid extrasNeeds an account; files may upload
Handy if the local already uses Canva for stills. Video and photos go to a cloud account; skip confidential casework.
Free tier, then paid extrasNeeds an account; files may upload
Uploads audio to make a transcript. Do not send grievance, medical, or bargaining talk.
Free tier, then paid extrasCloud account; treat member footage as leaving the phone
Widely used, and a cloud login. Do not treat it as the UnionOps default. Keep member faces and workplace audio off that account when you can.
What UnionOps stills are for
Download a 9:16 cover or end card from Graphic Maker (Portrait) or Image Resizer (Instagram Story is 1080×1920), then drop it on the first and last frames. Copy a caption from the library. Point a QR or link at an Action Card, meeting notice, or your local website.
Open with who, what, and when in the first second. One action per clip. Start with the platform members already use. Many locals still live in a closed Facebook group. TikTok is optional, not a First week step. Skip weekly ranking tips; they go stale. Official how-to pages are in Sources below.
Work through these once per clip, the same way First week walks boards then print then socials.
External resources cited in this guide. National and government URLs often move; if a link 404s, search from that organization’s home page. OPSEU / SEFPO pages on opseu.org may block automated checks — open those links in a browser before you share them in a workshop.
Many locals use a closed Facebook group as their primary member channel.
Official Instagram help for recording and sharing Reels. Length limits change; read the live page, not a blog recap.
Official YouTube Help for Shorts. Vertical clips; do not treat ranking tips from third-party blogs as durable.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines - contrast checker and alt-text guidance in this toolbox target Level AA.
Ontario accessibility hub (accessibility-laws redirects here). Referenced in the hub accessibility statement.