News

The Nagasaki Peace Messengers were visiting UNI Global Union before going to the United Nations in Geneva to present a record breaking petition of more than 195,000 signatures collected in the last year demanding nuclear disarmament.



Overall the peace messengers have now collected over a million signatures calling for a ban on nuclear weapons.



Welcoming the peace messengers, Philip Jennings, UNI Global Union General Secretary said, “We support the nuclear disarmament campaign and like you are totally committed to it as representatives of working people and their families all over the world. There are still an estimated 19,000 nuclear weapons and the risk of their use is ever present either by accident or design. 2000 are “trigger ready”, meaning they can be fired and detonated in a time lapse of minutes."



Jennings added, "What is needed is bottom up approach because we cannot rely on the eight nuclear governments to take the appropriate action and that is why the work of the peace messengers is so important. Starting from a single school in Nagasaki and spreading across Japan, you bring a powerful message that deserves to be listened to and respected. We ask that you continue to come and bring the message to as many of the world’s population as you can. We need to continue to break through for peace, it’s our future, it’s our choice, let’s rid the world of nuclear weapons.”



The peace messengers included hibakusha, second and third generation family members who remember this catastrophe in order that it should not be repeated. All the peace messengers spoke about their strong sense of responsibility for keeping this message of peace alive. The average age of the atomic bomb survivors is now over 75 and their number is naturally dwindling. Fortunately Japan’s younger generation have shown a willingness to remember the hibakusha’s suffering, aiming that history does not repeat itself.



Some 70,000 Japanese died instantly when the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6 1945, and three days later another 75,000 died when a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.



The peace messengers are working to ensure that Nagasaki is the last ever city subjected to the atomic bomb. They are the last generation who will hear first-hand the voices of the survivors.



UNI Global Union has a warm friendship and profound link with the people of Nagasaki – the city where UNI held its World Congress in November 2010. UNI’s Breaking Through plan supports the global nuclear disarmament movement and UNI is a member of ICAN, the International Campaign Against Nuclear Arms.



Just four months after UNI’s Nagasaki World Congress, Japan was struck by a devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster at Fukishima. Once again the world was presented with the human consequences of a nuclear catastrophe.



The earthquake and tsunami claimed more that 20,000 lives and thousands more were made homeless. UNI salutes the spirit of the Japanese people who once again have managed to rebuild their lives and shown true resilience.