job is sewn up

'a worker furious after being denied promotion for five years has sewn his lips together in protest. Water company labourer Jose Alberto Celis used a needle and thread to put five stitches in his lip in front of his boss in varacruz, Mexico. He claimed he had received' unfulfilled promises'.

stitched lips
http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSN2436073120071025
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3458823.stm
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/refugee-camp-children-sew-their-lips-in-protest-664504.html

this could possibly be an addition to 'dangers of sewing and knitting' the sequel ...http://www.craftscotland.org/dangersofknittingreview.html