Rep. Summer Lee & PA Congressional Delegation Members Call for Reinstatement of Mine Safety Workers at NIOSH Facility in Western PA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – JUNE 27, 2025 — Today, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12)  joined Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) and five other members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation on a letter demanding that the Department of Health and Human Services reverse the firing of workers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Pittsburgh Mining Research Division (PMRD). The mass firings endanger miner health and safety, and lawmakers from across the Commonwealth are calling on the Trump Administration to roll back the reckless purge of these essential federal workers before their scheduled termination date on July 2, 2025.

“PMRD is part of a coordinated federal ecosystem focused on a core mission: keeping miners alive, healthy, and protected on the job,” write the Members of Congress in their letter to Secretary Kennedy. “That mission cannot be achieved if any part of the system is dismantled... Its proven track record of advancing mine safety and productivity is essential to ensuring a robust American coal mining industry and protecting the livelihoods of thousands of families who depend on that industry. Just as it was essential to bring back the workers at CWHSP [the Coal Worker Health Surveillance Program] and NPPTL [the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory], it is equally urgent to return the PMRD [Pittsburgh Mining Research Division] workforce to their posts.”

Including Rep. Summer L. Lee (PA-12), the signatories of the letter are: Rep. Chris Deluzio (PA-17), Rep. Brendan Boyle (PA-02), Rep. Dwight Evans (PA-03), Rep. Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06). The full letter is available here and is copied at the bottom. 

“On behalf of the NIOSH Pittsburgh Mining Research Division employees, I want to thank Congressman Deluzio, Congresswoman Lee and the PA Congressional delegation for supporting the dedicated federal workers who commit every day to the unique effort of protecting America's miners from injury, illness and death that is required by the 2006 Mine Act,” said Lilas Soukup, President of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1916. 

Congresswoman Lee has been a consistent champion for NIOSH workers and the mission of the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division. Earlier this year, she toured the facility to hear directly from staff about their critical research to protect miners from injury, illness, and death. She has also publicly condemned layoffs at NIOSH and the CDC’s Pleasant Hills facility, demanded restoration of worker safety funding, and been recognized nationally for her leadership on occupational health, safety, and PPE standards that keep American workers safe on the job.

LETTER TEXT

June 27, 2025

The Honorable Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Secretary of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20201

Dear Secretary Kennedy,

We write in strong opposition to the RIF notice of dozens of workers within the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Pittsburgh Mining Research Division (PMRD), whose purpose, is “to eliminate mining fatalities, injuries, and illnesses across all mining sectors.” We urge you to fully and immediately rescind the RIF notice with a termination date of July 2, 2025 of these workers to ensure their important work to ensure miners’ safety can continue without further disruption.

As you are aware, on April 1, 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services initiated a reduction in force (RIF) at NIOSH, placing upwards of 90 percent of the agency’s staff on administrative leave and effectively halting multiple coal miner health and safety programs. Following a lawsuit by coal miners, on May 13, 2025, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction ordering your department to reverse the RIFs affecting the Respiratory Health Division within NIOSH, such as the Coal Worker Health Surveillance Program (CWHSP) and the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL), and to immediately resume all legally mandated work under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. As U.S. District Judge Irene Berger wrote in her decision, “Losing the services of these experienced and dedicated employees is an aspect of the irreparable harm to the miners and the public that cannot and should not be ignored.”

Despite also being essential to safeguarding worker health and safety, PMRD, a part of NIOSH’s Mining Program, was not covered by the court’s injunction. Accordingly, these workers remain on administrative leave and PMRD’s work remains paused. PMRD’s workers conduct cutting-edge research to minimize the dangers miners face, such as studies into preventing mine explosions, reducing toxic dust exposure, improving ventilation, and testing the structural stability of underground environments, among other areas. They operate the only federally maintained experimental coal mines in the country, along with advanced labs that simulate real-world mining conditions.

Together, with CWHSP, which screens coal miners for black lung disease, and NPPTL, which tests and certifies the respirators that protect workers in hazardous environments, PMRD is part of a coordinated federal ecosystem focused on a core mission: keeping miners alive, healthy, and protected on the job. That mission cannot be achieved if any part of the system is dismantled. PMRD is neither duplicative nor expendable. Its proven track record of advancing mine safety and productivity is essential to ensuring a robust American coal mining industry and protecting the livelihoods of thousands of families who depend on that industry. Just as it was essential to bring back the workers at CWHSP and NPPTL, it is equally urgent to return the PMRD workforce to their posts.

Again, we urge you to fully and immediately reinstate PMRD workers.

Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, she has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.4 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs.  Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 3,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.