AFL-CIO Daily Brief: UMWA Condemns NIOSH Layoffs

Top Cut:

Nearly all remaining staff at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) were suddenly laid off late Friday, gutting critical worker safety programs such as those that help combat black lung in miners.

Why It Matters:

An arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NIOSH produces vital research to inform OSHA's regulations and enforcement that keep working people safe on the job. Mine Workers (UMWA) International President Cecil E. Roberts sounded the alarm last weekend over the ransacking of an agency that oversees the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s Part 90 program, develops lifesaving coal dust and silica monitors, and more.

“Let me be clear: this is not just an attack on jobs. This is an attack on the very foundation of worker safety in the United States of America,” said Roberts in a press statement. “Who is going to monitor dust levels in our mines? Who will ensure the next generation of miners doesn’t end up with the same black lungs as their fathers and grandfathers? The United Mine Workers of America will not stand by silently while decades of progress are gutted overnight. This isn’t just detrimental—it’s catastrophic. It’s detrimental to coal miners. Detrimental to American workers. Detrimental to American families.”