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You may never have heard of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). But there’s a good chance you’ve benefited from its work.
Let’s say you’re a health care worker who has administered dangerous drugs or taken care of a patient with tuberculosis. Or a firefighter who relies on a respirator when you enter a burning building. Or you need personal protective equipment that both works and fits you properly. Chances are NIOSH research helped protect you on the job.
The federal agency studies cancer risks for firefighters, lung disease in coal miners and tests safety gear for first responders. It makes sure first responders and survivors of the 9/11 World Trade Center disaster receive medical care when they get sick. When workers or unions sound the alarm because hazardous chemicals are getting people sick, NIOSH shows up to investigate.
But now that life-saving work is under threat. NIOSH’s job is to make sure your job doesn’t kill or hurt you. But the new administration is trying to kill it off.
The administration just announced it's firing virtually the entire staff at the agency. Nearly 900 workers are expected to lose their jobs by July.
The plan is to destroy the agency — a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — without any approval from Congress.
Unions are speaking up because losing NIOSH will put workers everywhere at risk. It’s a direct attack on workers meant to strip us of our power. On May Day, the AFL-CIO and 27 unions, including AFSCME, wrote to Congress, demanding that lawmakers stop the Trump administration.
Twenty state attorneys general are also suing to stop these reckless cuts to NIOSH and all other health agencies.
We must fight back also by strengthening our union. We must organize.
Being in a union gives workers a voice — and the power to demand safer workplaces, better conditions, and real accountability. Want to protect your health on the job? Start by standing with your co-workers.
Learn more at AFSCMEgo.org.