Union representing laid-off Spokane occupational safety workers rallies outside HHS, calling on RFK Jr. to reinstate researchers

WASHINGTON – A labor union representing employees of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health rallied outside the Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday, protesting the department’s efforts to close NIOSH offices dedicated to workplace safety for miners, wildland firefighters and other workers in Spokane and other cities.

The Trump administration announced on April 1 that it would terminate about 85% of the staff at NIOSH, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in June as part of its effort to downsize the federal government. Members of the American Federation of Government Employees from Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia were joined Thursday by members of other unions representing mine workers, steel workers and nurses.

“Our work has made jobs safer, communities stronger and industry more productive for future generations, but we must remain vigilant,” said Brendan Demich, a union steward from Pittsburgh with AFGE Local 1916, which also represents employees in Spokane. “Our nation calls to increase mining. We simultaneously see pressures to cut the very people working to protect miners. We cannot allow mining safety research and all worker safety research to be sidelined. Now is the time to keep our eyes on the ball. Every advance in safety is written in the lives saved and tragedies averted. We owe it to the memory of those lost and to every miner working today to defend and support NIOSH.”

Although none of the terminated NIOSH employees from Spokane made the trek to the nation’s capital, Demich said in an interview that the workers at the Spokane Research Laboratory have conducted vital research that is specific to work done in the West.

The Spokane facility houses the Spokane Mining Research Division, which focuses on hard-rock mines, and the Western States Division, which studies safety in industries including oil and gas extraction, transportation and commercial fishing.

On Tuesday, Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, wrote a letter to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., asking the Health and Human Services chief to reverse his decision to close the Spokane office.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services said Kennedy “has been working hard to ensure that the critical functions under NIOSH remain intact.”

“The Trump Administration is committed to supporting coal miners and firefighters, and under the Secretary’s leadership, NIOSH’s essential services will continue as HHS streamlines its operations,” the department said. “Ensuring the health and safety of our workforce remains a top priority for the Department.”

At the rally on Thursday, union members said NIOSH can’t continue to fulfill its mission with so many of its employees terminated. Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, gave a rousing speech to remind the NIOSH researchers why their work is important.

“I came here today to stand with my brothers and my sisters who work for NIOSH,” Roberts said. “Because they have been saving coal miners’ lives the entire time NIOSH has been in existence.”