MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The remaining employees at NIOSH in Morgantown who were told last month they may lose their jobs in federal budget cuts were told Friday evening they will lose their jobs July 2.
The first notices on April 1 were sent to 185 members of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3430. There were non-union workers who were also part of that original notification at NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health). Those jobs will be sliced in early June. It is not known how many notices were sent last Friday or what functions those employees performed.
The leadership of the United Mine Workers Union has called the cuts ordered by the Trump administration’s Department of Human Services “cowardly.” They came at 6:30 p.m. Friday, the union said.
UMWA Treasurer Brian Sanson said their organization has received no official communication from a government agency about the cuts announced Friday. Sanson went on to say they don’t know the status of Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) offices or the inspectors.
“We’ve had very little outreach from those in government, and we don’t know the status or future of NIOSH,” Sanson said Monday on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.” “We know the Morgantown office is being closed and we know Mine Safety and Health Administration offices are being closed.”
Despite the cuts and confusion, Sanson said the mines continue normal operations. The inspectors play an important role as the independent safety auditor to prevent tragic incidents.
“These inspectors are critical,” Sanson said. “Not only to monitor the mines, to be there, to write citations, to make sure the operators are following the law, and to prevent disasters.”
According to Sanson, there is zero communication with the federal government. UMWA President Cecil Roberts has met once with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and he is uncertain if another meeting has been scheduled.
“To begin with, they are not renewing leases, and they are not providing us information on if these mine inspectors are going to be terminated or transferred to other parts of the country,” Sanson said.
For the foreseeable future, the mines are operating with minimal oversight due to the personnel shake-ups and MSHA disruption. Sanson said the lack of oversight creates the conditions for the possibility of another West Virginia mine disaster.
“I think that there are responsible operators out there that have concerns,” Sanson said. “But, I think the vast majority of coal operators care about one thing, and that’s the bottom line.”
Sanson said the fight will continue for the health and safety of their members and the workers terminated abruptly.
“We’re going to continue to aggressively challenge these closures, the postponement of these rules, and anything else that comes down that can affect the health and safety of our members,” Sanson said.
Story by Mike Nolting, WAJR