Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
On Wednesday, unions across nursing, education, mining and manufacturing industries, along with a manufacturer of personal protective equipment, sued the Trump administration to reverse the illegal dismantling of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a component of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The plaintiffs include the AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics (AOEC), California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), Dentec Safety Specialists Inc., the Machinists (IAM), National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM), National Nurses United (NNU), New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), United Auto Workers (UAW), Mine Workers (UMWA) and United Steelworkers (USW).
“By gutting NIOSH, Elon Musk and his DOGE won’t just be cutting corners—they are cutting lives short and placing working people in danger. Working people have fought too hard for these critical protections to now watch an unelected billionaire dismantle them and take us back to a time when chronic disease and death on the job was commonplace,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “I’m proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with unions and partners today in filing this lawsuit to challenge this illegal, reckless and potentially deadly assault on worker health and safety.”