[ by Melanie Gretchen ] Goldman Sachs is getting it from all sides, and in ways it could never anticipate. The highly publicized resignation of former executive director Greg Smith - who has become something of a folk hero - led to a $2 billion loss in market value.  Now, several former employees in Japan have formed a union as part of a protest that focuses on getting their jobs back. Setting Precedent. In what lawyers said was a rare instance of organized labor in finance’s highest echelons, one finance professional made a simple request:  "I would like to be just like to be treated as human." Recruited out of college, he worked in the back offices of the bank's Japanese operation for almost a decade before being told in August that his job was being eliminated.  At combative meetings, he was pressured into taking a 6-month severance package, a sum he said was inadequate.

[C-I Note: Talk about treated people like humans.  You may recall the recent episode where a nuclear reactor core  in a Japanese power plant -  not too far from Tokyo - melted down, releasing dangerous levels of radioactive emissions.  Many Tokyo residents and workers fled the city.   Goldman employees reportedly did not because they were on orders to stay at their desks and continue working - otherwise they'd be out of a job after the trouble 'blew' over.]

Masked Avenger. Hiding his identity behind mask  and refusing to give his name or nationality, the man using the pseudonym "Adam Lee" only offered that he was not Japanese - for fear that identifying himself would jeopardize his chances of getting future jobs in finance.  A Goldman Sachs spokesperson responded: "We are currently in discussions with the National Union of General Workers over a termination dispute." Goldman in Japan. Set up in Tokyo in 1974, the firm branch employs some 1,300 people.  Historically, laid-off employees may have a strong claim of unfair dismissal in a country with some of the most protective labor laws in the world.  Historically, Japanese companies have long been expected to offer their workers lifetime employment, a system long upheld as vital to the country’s social cohesion. "Personally, this labor union makes me laugh," said Kunsen Gen, a managing partner at the Minato International Group, a Tokyo-based legal practice that handles labor disputes.  "They should have known from the start that layoffs are a risk in the cutthroat world of finance." Nevertheless, he said that legal precedent in Japan suggests that the former employees could be successful in claiming wrongful dismissal. By law, even underperforming employees must be given ample time to improve and learn before a company can show them the door.  As far as layoffs go, a company must show that it is on the verge of bankruptcy, and that staff cutbacks are necessary to stay a going concern.  "It would be hard to argue that Goldman Sachs is in danger of going bust," Mr. Gen said. Casualties. All told, 2,400 jobs the bank were eliminated worldwide last year following a steep revenue drop.  With no paycheck since February, Mr. Lee has started to dip into his savings, though he declined to reveal his salary at Goldman or the size of his nest egg.  "You might think I’m rich, but the back office doesn’t make that kind of money," he said.    [Dealbook, 3/22/12].