CDC, NIOSH Unions Push Back Against Mass HHS Layoffs

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The unions representing workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are sounding the alarm. Despite reports of reinstatements, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) continues to carry out mass layoffs that gut frontline science and shut down life-saving public health programs, according to a May 16 statement from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).

In March, HHS began a reduction in force that targeted more than 1,500 CDC employees and more than 90% of NIOSH staff, said AFGE. Following national outcry from unions, lawmakers and public health experts, HHS reinstated approximately 300 NIOSH employees, the union said.

At the same time, an email from an HHS official stated the department would lay off an equivalent number of CDC staff to “offset” the reinstatements, according to AFGE.

“These layoffs are not targeting inefficiency, they are targeting science,” said Yolanda Jacobs, president of AFGE Local 2883. “Public health researchers and frontline scientists are being thrown out of their jobs while the country faces growing environmental, occupational and public health crises.”

Programs that remain defunded include NIOSH’s toxicology research, chemical hazard risk assessment and surveillance of high-risk industries. These functions are required by law under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, said AFGE.

On May 14, Public Citizen Litigation Group and several labor unions filed a federal lawsuit seeking a full reversal of the NIOSH layoffs, citing NIOSH’s legal mandates. 

“Let us be clear: our unions stand united,” said Brendan Demich, chief steward of AFGE Local 1916. “We will not be divided. We oppose all of these layoffs, whether at CDC or NIOSH. This is a coordinated assault on the public health workforce. Federal workers are being used as pawns in a political game, and the consequences will be deadly for the people of this country.”

To speak out against cuts and demand full reinstatement, NIOSH employee unions will rally with the AFL-CIO and other labor allies outside HHS Headquarters (200 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, D.C.) on May 22 at noon.