PITTSBURGH, PA – Lt. Gov. Austin Davis rallied with state leaders, workers and labor leaders today in Pittsburgh to call out the Trump Administration’s dangerous cuts that are putting the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Pennsylvania miners at risk.
“The Shapiro-Davis Administration is taking action to make workplaces in Pennsylvania safer, but we need the federal government, including President Trump and RFK Jr., to step up and make worker safety a priority,” said Davis. “RFK Jr. has laid off critical federal employees that help keep our miners safe and healthy and prepare emergency responders in case of a mine accident. The Trump Administration isn’t just putting federal workers’ jobs at risk – he’s putting thousands of miners, both here in Pennsylvania and across the country, in danger.”
Earlier this month the state Department of Environmental Protection sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., calling on the Trump Administration to keep the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Pittsburgh Mining Research Division open so that it can continue its critical mine safety research that contributes to keeping the approximately 3,000 Pennsylvania miners – and miners across the country – safe.
“Pennsylvania has a long legacy of mining — stretching back hundreds of years — and we owe it to our mine workers, their families, and mining communities to ensure their safety and continue this critical research,” said DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley. “Since its inception in 1910 as the Bureau of Mines, the work accomplished by this group has undoubtedly saved lives and advanced the industry forward. Losing this facility will impede advancements in mine safety, harm the mining industry, and put workers at risk."
State Rep. Dan Frankel, majority chair of the Pennsylvania House Health Committee, noted that the dramatic decrease in mining-related fatalities over the last century is no coincidence – it's the results of crucial research performed at NIOSH and other specialized facilities.
“Working underground is dangerous enough without Washington ripping away the resources that keep workers and communities safe,” said Frankel. “I'm grateful that we have an administration in Pennsylvania that understands how reckless and dangerous these cuts are.”
Hundreds of workers at the NIOSH lab in Allegheny County have received a “reduction-in-force” notice and have been effectively laid off, as they await court challenges to their positions being eliminated. In addition to conducting life-saving mine safety research, the division’s workers provide virtual reality training for DEP’s mine response teams.
“Despite claims to the contrary by HHS leadership, services to miner health and safety are being gutted by elimination of the congressionally mandated NIOSH Mining Program,” said American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 1916 Vice President Brendan Demich. “Unless Secretary Kennedy immediately reverses course on these cuts, he will oversee the end of a 115-year legacy of protecting miners from explosions, fires, cave-ins and chronic diseases, like black lung. Mining families, like my own, will see their loved ones suffer from preventable mining incidents and illnesses.”
“With the Trump Administration attacking federal employees and terminating collective bargaining through executive orders, AFGE is continuing to represent the NIOSH employees who are performing research to ensure the health and safety of workers and miners,” said AFGE Local 1916 President Lilas Soukup.
Even as the Trump Administration makes empty claims about caring about workers, they’re slashing funding for agencies that protect workers’ rights, health and safety.
For example, the federal agency that is investigating the deadly incident at the Clairton Coke Works is the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, which is supposed to present their findings and make recommendations that prevent future accidents. The Trump Administration is planning to close down the board and zero out its funding by the end of the month, making it impossible to complete their report and share their recommendations.
The federal Department of Labor is also trying to take away federal minimum wage and overtime protections for home health care workers and organizing rights for farmworkers. In addition, the Trump administration is stonewalling a new rule to protect miners from black lung disease and hold coal companies accountable.
“These layoffs at NIOSH are not just cuts on paper; they are a direct threat to the safety and health of miners across this country,” said United Mine Workers of America International District 2 Vice President Chuck Knisell. “When you strip away the programs that monitor dust exposure, the labs that do the research, and the oversight that holds companies accountable, you’re playing Russian roulette with lives. The UMWA will not stand by while workers are left unprotected, miners deserve enforcement, research, and funding, not empty promises.”
Since taking office in 2023, the Shapiro-Davis Administration has reformed Pennsylvania’s workers’ compensation law to ensure emergency responders with post-traumatic stress receive the coverage they deserve and the treatment they need. The Administration is also pushing to cover annual cancer screenings for firefighters.