Makieda qualified as a teacher during World War II, then taught at a junior high school.
After the war, he was a founding member of the Japan Teachers' Union (JTU), and became its general secretary in 1962, and then president in 1971, in which role he promoted education for peace.
From 1976, he was additionally president of the General Council of Trade Unions of Japan (Sohyo).
In 1978, he was elected as president of the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession, serving until 1982, during which time he built links between the federation and the rival International Federation of Free Teachers' Unions.
[1][2] Makieda retired in 1983, and thereafter devoted his time to the Japan-China Friendship Society.