Around 40 federal employees and supporters gathered in Morgantown, West Virginia, on Wednesday to protest large-scale job cuts at the local National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) facility.
The protest follows the recent announcement that at least 185 employees at the NIOSH campus received reduction-in-force (RIF) notices last week. The cuts are part of a broader move by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which plans to dismiss approximately 10,000 federal employees nationwide.
Although the RIF notices list an end-of-employment date in June, NIOSH workers were instructed to leave the facility starting April 1. The sudden notice left many scrambling to process the implications.
Bill Lindsley, a bioengineer and nationally recognized researcher during the COVID-19 pandemic, is one of the affected employees. Known for his groundbreaking work developing robotic-like diagnostic machines that simulate human breathing and coughing, Lindsley’s research helped test respirators and air filtration systems in workplaces.
His work, which remains vital in understanding airborne threats in tight spaces, will come to a halt on June 2—along with his job.
“This kind of right-sizing is being done the wrong way,” Lindsley said during the protest along West Virginia Route 705, just down the road from the NIOSH building. As car horns blared in support, he warned that public health threats don’t pause just because budgets get trimmed.
“The next COVID is coming—we just don’t know when,” he said. “It could be bird flu, or something we haven’t seen yet. The clock is ticking.”
Lindsley wasn’t alone in sounding the alarm. Fellow researchers and longtime public health advocates echoed his concerns about the impact the cuts will have not only on the local community but also on the nation’s ability to prepare for health crises.
Scott Lacey, an epidemiologist who has worked at NIOSH for 16 years, came to Morgantown to focus on black lung research—an issue that has long plagued West Virginia’s coal miners.
He now worries that the services guaranteed by the Mine Safety and Health Act could disappear.
“If our work stops, coal miners might lose access to routine chest X-rays that detect black lung early,” Lacey said. “It could mean fewer protections and missed diagnoses, and that’s unacceptable.”
Another area of concern comes from scientist Cammie Chaumont Menendez, whose work focuses on preventing workplace violence, especially among gig workers and independent contractors.
“We’re the reason there are security cameras in taxi cabs,” Menendez noted, emphasizing how seemingly small innovations have come from years of research and observation. Cutting these jobs, she said, means risking the loss of hard-won knowledge that directly improves worker safety.
NIOSH’s Morgantown facility has grown beyond its original mission of studying black lung disease. Today, it houses the Health Effects Laboratory Division and teams that develop and test personal protective equipment (PPE), making it a cornerstone of federal workplace safety research.
Cathy Tinney-Zara, a public health analyst and president of Local 3430 of the American Federation of Government Employees, represents many of the affected workers. She stressed that public health isn’t just a job—it’s a calling.
“These aren’t just researchers—they’re people who care deeply about keeping workers safe,” Tinney-Zara said. “You go into public health because it’s a mission, not for the paycheck.”
That sense of duty was clearly displayed in the signs carried by protesters, including one that read: “Oh, my gosh – you’re going to miss NIOSH.”
NIOSH employees in other locations, including Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Spokane, Washington, are also facing furloughs. But in Morgantown, where NIOSH has had a strong presence for decades, the impact is hitting particularly hard.
The loss of institutional knowledge, ongoing research, and community engagement could set back decades of progress in workplace safety and occupational health. For those who have dedicated their careers to protecting the public, it feels like the wrong decision at the worst time.
As one researcher put it: “You may not notice we’re gone—until the next crisis hits.”
