Congressman Deluzio Asks Trump Administration to Reverse Worker Firings at the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health

CARNEGIE, PA - Today, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) released a joint letter he signed to President Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, asking them to reverse the nationwide firings of employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). These mass firings included hundreds terminated locally at a Pleasant Hills facility. The public servants fired from NIOSH do important work for the American people. They help keep miners safe on the job and keep us all healthy by certifying that the respirators we use for things like painting and firefighting are made to high standards. NIOSH as an agency overall has a $53 million direct economic impact across Pennsylvania.

"NIOSH's work, mission, and employees and contractors are vital to the national cause of advancing occupational health and safety. NIOSH research and knowledge generation prevents injuries, saves lives, and lowers healthcare and workforce costs," wrote Congressman Deluzio and his colleagues in the letter. "As such, we urge the restoration of NIOSH's important work, and call for the immediate reinstatement of all employees and contractors who have been impacted."

The full text of the letter is HEREand below:

Dear President Trump and Secretary Kennedy: We urge you to reverse the termination decisions at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The work of these employees and contractors plays a critical role in worker safety and has enormous economic impacts in communities across the country. If this decision stands, millions of workers across the country will face greater risks to job injury, illness, and death - including firefighters, whom NIOSH plays a critical role in protecting.

NIOSH's work and legacy spans decades. In the 1970s, NIOSH issued its first recommendations on mitigating heat exposure in the workplace. In the 1980s, NIOSH led research on preventing occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens and respiratory hazards. And in the 2000s, NIOSH played an important role in supporting programs to compensate civilian Cold War veterans sickened while making nuclear weapons; rapidly mobilized to protect workers from anthrax attacks; provided direct technical assistance to first responders after the 9/11 attacks; and still administers the World Trade Center Health Program, which provides compensation and medical programs to first responders, recovery workers, and survivors. NIOSH's 1,500 employees and contractors whose positions have been terminated are crucial to this work.

Today, NIOSH's vital work is carried out at laboratories and offices across the country, each of which supports local and state economies through jobs, research funding, and contracts:

• Atlanta, GA: 140 positions eliminated, $23M statewide economic impact in FY24
• Cincinnati, OH: 423 positions eliminated, $108M statewide economic impact in FY24
• Denver, CO: 15 positions eliminated, $7M statewide economic impact in FY245
• Morgantown, WV: 403 positions eliminated, $72M statewide economic impact in FY24
• Pittsburgh, PA: 402 positions eliminated, $53M statewide economic impact in FY24
• Spokane, WA: 82 positions eliminated, $27M statewide economic impact in FY24
• Washington, DC: 48 positions eliminated, $8M districtwide economic impact in FY24

Every day, NIOSH employees and contractors carry out critical work to protect workers nationwide. Their responsibilities range from reducing exposure to hazardous chemicals, mine dangers, and avian flu, to investigating firefighters' line-of-duty deaths and identifying links between firefighting and cancer. Not only will these terminations impact safety - they will have ripple effects across universities, PPE manufacturers, large and small businesses, and local communities.

NIOSH's work, mission, and employees and contractors are vital to the national cause of advancing occupational health and safety. NIOSH research and knowledge generation prevents injuries, saves lives, and lowers healthcare and workforce costs. As such, we urge the restoration of NIOSH's important work, and call for the immediate reinstatement of all employees and contractors who have been impacted.

Sincerely,

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