In the US we "go postal". In Japan they go "assembly line". Sounds like they have the same roots. The quote "equal pay for equal work" in the article sounds like the labor movement has a long way to go. Perhaps Mr. King could focus his energies in Asia as that is a real growth market for organized labor.
Hahaha. Yeah, "assembly line" seems to be the trend there. FWIW, there is JAW. I didn't realize that Japanese autoworkers are unionized until the labor union was mentioned when I took a tour of a Toyota plant in Japan, years ago. It sounded like you entered the union by default when you became a line worker but if you became management, you can't be in the union any longer. I'd be curious to learn more about what % of Japanese autoworkers are unionized and if there are entire plants where none are.
I deduce "employees" are unionized. Contract workers are just that. Apparantly the union is content with the 2 tier system.