ROGER & ME

With changing laws and an increasing labor reliance on AI, the discussion about worker solidarity and collective bargaining, and about what’s at stake for union members who are walking the picket lines to preserve their jobs, Labor Day celebrations rise to a new level of relevance. Thus far this year, there have been 176 labor actions — strikes and protests — taken across the USA, and there were a total of 170 official labor actions recorded thus far in 2025 and a total of 889 official labor actions in 2025, according to the Cornell University Labor Action Tracker. The power of collective bargaining will determine how successful labor unions will be in their demands for fair compensation and safe working conditions for their members. And we can include among them all who work in the motion picture industry in front of and behind the lens, on screens large and small, where AI is a pressing labor issue.