US Senator Shelley Moore Capito announced on social media Tuesday that more than 100 National Institute For Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) employees will be returning to work.
“As Chairman of the Labor-H @AppropsGOP Subcommittee, I was proud to advocate for the critical work that’s done at NIOSH in Morgantown, WV. My understanding from @SecKennedy is that over 100 Morgantown employees will be returning to the job permanently. The health and safety of our WV workers, including our miners, is of the utmost importance and I will always advocate for their wellbeing,” Senator Capito announced on X (formerly Twitter).
Capito said in a press release on May 10 that she spoke with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, twice about NIOSH, which she credits with bringing back jobs dealing with inhalation issues affecting coal miners and black lung.
However, she said the cuts are too much and the black lung benefits are congressionally mandated, calling the assurances that the program is just paused, not gone, insufficient.
A decision is expected to come down in a federal court case regarding NIOSH, in which coal miners say the layoffs have direct effects on their health and safety.