Unions can be a powerful force in securing critical rights and protections for workers, but they’re also an entity that many wish not to succeed, particularly powerful corporations who fear having to pay living wages and benefits to those they can deem disposable and less deserving of fair treatment. Fluctuating unemployment rates and a labor market forever changed by the COVID-19 pandemic are powder kegs for increased conversations about the value of unions, and there’s no better filmmaker to document what’s happening and changing than two-time Oscar-winner Barbara Kopple.
Union Town begins in 2023 with three major workforce spotlights in New York City: UPS, Amazon, and the Workers Justice Project. Their struggles are not entirely the same but are highly aligned, rooted in the exploration of the advantages and risks of unionizing as a result of extremely problematic treatment that has forced workers to go to extraordinary lengths to meet even the most basic (and often completely unreasonable and unsafe) expectations of their jobs. The path to organizing and unionizing is never an easy one, and issues pertaining to citizenship, job stability, and physical health frequently come into play as each movement’s leaders debate whether to continue or abandon their efforts for fear of not achieving their aims and ending up worse than when they started.
Kopple has a perfect Oscar record, going two for two with Harlan County, USA and American Dream taking home the award for Best Documentary Feature in 1976 and 1991, chronicling strikes at coal mines and meatpacking plants, respectively. In the years since the release of those two films, amateur video production and the prominence of social media have completely changed the way in which information is disseminated, meaning that audiences are likelier to be at least somewhat familiar with these movements rather than encountering them for the first time in this film.
Despite the fact that the subject matter may not be earth-shattering or entirely unknown, Kopple still paints a full picture of these situations by providing considerable context for each person’s story, turning the focus on whoever it is that’s speaking to the camera or offering a snapshot of their life and given them the film’s full attention for whatever period of time. It’s a rewarding strategy, one that makes the case for itself as audiences will surely be moved by the vulnerable way in which these people show what they go through and how, even in the face of disastrous repercussions, they come to the decision that they have to do something to try to better not only their circumstances but the playing field for those who are in the same boat and will one day be in the future.
Expansive as her film may be, Kopple is smart not to try to make this an overarching depiction of what delivery service unions are in the United States today. There are enough specific stories that it feels representative of a larger whole and a sufficient snapshot of the industry, but it doesn’t pretend to know everything or take each individual participant and grievance into account. These people have been through and are still going through something, and there’s a raw and compelling authenticity to the way in which they allow a camera and microphone into their personal lives, unmasking their personal circumstances for the greater good.
Union Town is a film about the affirming power of collective bargaining, but it’s hardly a celebration of undisputed success, since every major victory comes with its share of unresolved concerns and pending problems just waiting to take shape once the dust has settled. But as a blueprint for a better state of the delivery workforce, this film is a sturdy champion, smartly choosing to allow its subjects to share what they endure to create a narrative rather than trying to force one together from a handful of pieces. Kopple remains a master documentarian who knows how loudly other people’s stories speak, and this is merely her latest effective capture of the moment in which the world, or at least this country, is living.
Movie Rating: 8/10
Union Town makes its North American premiere in the TIFF Docs section at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival.
