As this year’s Labor Day observance approaches, America’s workers, traditionally part of the “cement” that holds this country together, are concerned increasingly about what effects robots and Artificial Intelligence will have on their work lives – and lives in general – going forward.

And, that worry is destined to continue, although “people in the know” remain certain that humans’ important places in businesses and industries will continue – albeit, in many cases, in different capacities.

For now, though, Jorgen Pedersen, CEO of the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute, a government-funded nonprofit meant to strengthen U.S. manufacturing, believes a complete robot takeover is decades away.

He pointed to the fact that robots still struggle to handle fabric and other limp materials. He told the Wall Street Journal that for robots to perform the most complex jobs, there will have to be technological breakthroughs that aren’t yet on the radar.

But those breakthroughs might be closer to being realized than Pedersen and others believe possible – considering the speeds at which other changes and accomplishments have come about.

So, the worries on the labor front this year are justified, and worries like this year’s most certainly will exist on Labor Days to come, for the foreseeable future.

The Journal, in an Aug. 26 article headlined “Auto plant full of robots still needs a human touch,” focused on what it described as Hyundai Motor Group’s “ultramodern new auto plant” near Savannah, Ga., that opened in late 2024.

The plant deploys 750 robots, not counting the hundreds of autonomous guided vehicles that the Journal described as gliding across the floor.

About 1,450 people work beside them so far, but the company has committed to hiring 8,500 people at the plant by 2031 as a condition for the $2 billion incentive package it received from the state of Georgia.

However, some incoming employees remain skeptical about the prospects for long-term employment as more robots are “hired” into the plant workforce.

Robotic dogs at the Hyundai plant that go by the name Spot, as well as humanoid robots equipped with arms, legs and fingers, and known as Atlas, which can sort and carry parts, also are among the factors injecting anxiety into the Georgia plant workplace.

They will continue to ramp up their influence at the plant amid the hiring of humans that takes place, going forward.

Despite the challenges that lie ahead – some already visualized and some not – there remains much to be thankful for in regard to America’s labor front, which remains the envy of other nations around the world.

Labor Day rightly has been called a “uniquely American holiday,” and it always will merit that description.

Additionally, it always will be regarded as the unofficial end of the summer vacation season, despite autumn being more than two weeks away.

With the new school year getting underway around this time, students should be reminded of the significance of the day, and perhaps be asked to write about how their parents and grandparents helped to make this holiday so significant.

Labor Day is a national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength and prosperity of America.

No robot is worthy of such a tribute.