story reported by Mike Nolting in Morgantown and Brad McElhinny in Washington, D.C.

People supporting the continued work of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health rallied at sites including Morgantown and Washington, D.C.

“Today as always, Mother Jones said this: “Pray for the dead, fight like hell for the living.’ She also said this: ‘No matter what, you must fight.’ You must fight. You must fight,” said United Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts, striding as he gave a stemwinder in Washington, D.C.

“If you won’t fight, who will stand up? Fight back. United we stand.”

The rallies were meant to draw attention to job losses and impaired mission for the agency meant to watch out for worker safety and health.

Roberts and members of the United Mine Workers attended the rally in front of the U.S. Health and Human Services building in Washington, D.C., because NIOSH is central to legally-mandated black lung screening and coal mine safety research.

The rally also included steelworkers union members as well as members of the American Federation of Government Employees. Rallygoers held signs that said “WARNING: NIOSH cuts endanger your safety” and “NIOSH keeps your workplace safe.”

The Health and Human Services agency announced on March 27 a restructuring in line with the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency initiatives, that resulted in hundreds of reduction in force notifications at the National Institute of Safety and Health agency in locations like Morgantown.

The facility conducts research and makes recommendations about preventing work-related injuries and illnesses.

The Respiratory Health Division focuses on preventing work-related respiratory diseases and improving worker health. The Coal Workers Health Surveillance Program studies respiratory disease in miners and provides health screenings and information, particularly about black lung.

Last week, Kennedy confirmed the return of 110 workers to various roles at NIOSH in Morgantown. The Respiratory Health Division, Division of Safety Research and National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory were brought back. More than a hundred more workers have not returned.

At a rally today in Morgantown, people braved rain and wind to rally in support of workers who were fired from the facility where hundreds once worked.

American Federation of Government Employees Local 3430 President Cathy Tinney-Zara said the workers there continue to have the support of state political leaders including Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.

Pulmonary toxicologist Jeff Fedan, who was hired at NIOSH in 1977 and recently retired, said the agency’s research has improved working conditions for miners, firefighters, factory workers and workers in the construction industry. The work at the agency has also reduced workers’ compensation and liability costs for business owners, he said.

“You have to remember that employers are generally not interested in the health of their workers,” Fedan said. “There’s no one else interested in the health of their workers except NIOSH and OSHA; the rest of the world doesn’t care.”

In Washington, D.C., the rally occurred over the noon hour in front of the Hubert H. Humphrey Federal Building, headquarters of Health and Human Services. Some drivers honked in support of the rally, where participants could see the dome of the U.S. Capitol.

Rally participants came from places like Morgantown, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.

Reid Harvey, an epidemiologist with the Respiratory Health Division in Morgantown, carried a sign that said “NIOSH saves workers lives” with a WV to signify his home state.

Harvey initially received a reduction in force notification but his was rescinded. His division went back to work last week, but he said it’s not to the prior extent.

“Only about a third of NIOSH that had been RIFd has been returned — so still two-thirds are not back,” he said.

“Other groups in Morgantown aren’t back — the Laboratory Focus Group that does the toxicology studies and other research studies, they are still RIFd, so none of them are back.”

He said the parts of NIOSH that have returned typically would rely on those that remain out.

“In isolation it doesn’t work the same,” he said. “Our investigations in the field won’t be the same without the groups that can do the toxicology, the risk assessment studies that we rely on. Even though some of the programs are back, it is not the same as it was and we want and need the rest to return.”

Because the situation with reductions in force has been evolving, Harvey said it’s a challenge for the public to keep up with the current status.

“It’s hard for us to keep track of things and who is back and who is not back in what capacity and so it is too many changes too quickly. Even those of us who are back — because of all these changes can’t do the same work we were doing. We need a budget, the ability to travel, the ability to communicate — and that’s not happening,” he said.

Epidemiologist Anne Foreman of the Respiratory Health Division also traveled from Morgantown to Washington, D.C. She is back to work after receiving a reduction in force notice but wanted to show support for her colleagues and the work they do.

The different rounds of layoffs and returns are “certainly confusing, and we’re still learning what functions we’re going to be able to continue to do and what functions may be limited based on the personnel that have returned,” she said.

“So it’s been quite a rollercoaster since April 1 and really going into each day wondering what parts will be brought fully and what work will we still be able to do.”

Foreman carried a sign that said “NIOSH, the real canary in the coal mine,” referring to the practice of taking canaries into deep mines to provide an early warning of dangerous air quality.

“I came here in solidarity with my fellow union members to make some noise,” Foreman said.

The rally in Washington, D.C. closed with participants singing “Solidarity Forever,” a song written in 1915 by labor activist Ralph Chaplin, who had worked with Mother Jones to organize and lead a strike of coal miners in West Virginia.