Working as Protest: Dignity, Routine, and Daily Life

Over my desk hangs a poster made by Universal to paste on telephone poles, fences, and neighborhood kiosks and to mail out to affiliated unions all over Tokyo to advertise one of their “Factory Festivals” (Kōjōsai). Covering about three-fourths ofit is a black-and-white photograph of Kanda-san, the head of the cutting and sewing section where I worked. Oblivious to the camera, he is concentrating over his sewing machine, running leather under the needle as he did six days a week all day long for most of the forty-plus years of his career. Over Kanda-san’s image is a bold diagonal banner