1199SEIU Hosts Japanese Participants of UN Anti-Nuke Conference
Thousands of peace activists from around the world are in New York City to participate in activities related to the month-long 2010 UN Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Several of the activists from Japan began a series of meetings on May 2 at 1199SEIU headquarters in midtown Manhattan. Many of them took part in meetings and demonstrations from April 30 to May 2 calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The UN Review Conference is held every five years and seeks to reach agreement to halt the spread of nuclear weapons, to promote cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to take steps toward the ultimate goal of total disarmament.
Meeting in the 1199SEIU Bread and Roses Gallery were members of the Japan Peace Committee, the Osaka Association for a Non-Nuclear Government and the Osaka Federation on Prefectural and Municipal Workers’ Unions. Their discussion centered around the movement for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Futenma Air Base on the island of Okinawa. “Futenma, The Most Dangerous Base in the World” “No More Hiroshima!” “No More Nagasaki” read the signs in the room.
Several U.S. healthcare leaders addressed a May 4 meeting in the 1199SEIU auditorium of MIN-IREN, the Japan Federation of Democratic Medical Institutions. 1199SEIU ExecutiveVP Norma Amsterdam, who heads our Union’s RN Division, welcomed the activists on behalf of 1199SEIU.
“Nobody is better suited or more informed than you, our Japanese sisters and brothers, to remind us all of the horrific consequences of these (nuclear) doomsday weapons, “ Amsterdam said. “No one knows better than healthcare workers that the best form of health care is preventive care. So, too, is this the case with questions of war and peace. The urgent question for all of us is not how to win wars, but how to prevent them – especially nuclear wars.”
Amsterdam said that 1199SEIU was committed to march alongside their Japanese sisters and brothers for world peace and disarmament.
Earlier in the day, Dr. Toni Lewis, President of the Committee of Interns and Residents, addressed the group and fielded questions about the recent healthcare reform law. “Doctors and nurses now support reform,” she said, adding in reference to the bill, “there is still a lot of work to be done.”