Led by 1199SEIU Secretary Treasurer Maria Castaneda, 1199ers joined leaders and members of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) and Filipino activists at a November 12 press conference outside New York Presbyterian Hospital to appeal for aid for victims of Typhoon Haiyan.

“Our help is urgently needed,” declared Castaneda, as she described the typhoon as the worst in history. The typhoon tore through the central Philippines on November 8 and flattened Tacloban, the coastal capital of Leyte province. Officials put the death toll at 10,000.

“I’m happy to stand with members of NYSNA,” Castaneda said. “Just as we have worked together to save quality healthcare and quality jobs, we are uniting to raise desperately needed funds for the victims in the Philippines.”

She described support from other locals of the Service Employees International Union and from management of 199SEIU institutions. “But our most important resource in this campaign is our members,” she declared.

Jill Furillo, NYSNA’s executive director, also discussed the importance of joining hands with 1199SEIU. “We have a strong network of RNs, 850 of whom already have volunteered to work in the disaster-stricken arrears of the Philippines.

Some of those nurses spoke at the press conference. Presby RN Gloria Cabacoy Contreras, who was born in Tacloban, fought back tears as she described her concern and pain as she watched TV news reports of the typhoon. She was joined at the press conference by Presby RN Belma Tonel.

“This is more than a need for the Philippines, this is an emergency human need,” said Wilfredo Rosete, a Presby neurophysiology technician, whose wife also is a NYSNA member.

Maria Eva Mahinay Comeo, an 1199 RN at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan made an impassioned appeal for assistance. “This is going to be a long process,” she emphasized. “It will take a lot of work, but we can do it together.”

Other speakers at the press conference included a leader of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, who called the typhoon an unnatural disaster. She noted that climate change and underdevelopment played were important factors in the disaster.

Her point was underscored by Yeb Sano, the head of the Philippines delegation at the current UN climate talks in Poland who announced that he would go on a hunger strike to prod the conference to take meaningful action to address climate change.

"What my country is going through as a result of this extreme climate event is madness, the climate crisis is madness. We can stop this madness right here in Warsaw," he said.

1199SEIU has set up an online PayPal account to accept donations for the typhoon victims. The Union will match by 100 percent each donation. Donations can be made here.