Shot from the NAOSH campus in Bruceton in Allegheny. (Photo from CDC)
The Pittsburgh laboratory responsible for confirming virtually all respirators approved by the US government in this country prepared for the shutter for good in June. Capital Star announced last month that employees were said that their positions were eliminated as part of the wide cuts of the US Health and Social Welfare Department. The laboratory is responsible for confirmation and audit of almost every N95, as well as masks worn by doctors, firefighters, welders, coal miners and other specialists.
But these plans changed on Tuesday afternoon. Officials from the local chapter of the American Federation of Union employees say that many, if not all, employees remained in the Bruceton facility, many of which were on administrative leave, received e -mail with information that their work is protected – at least for a moment.
“Earlier you received a notification regarding the upcoming reduction of the Health and Social Welfare Department (HHS)”, read the e -mail message sent to the laboratory employees by Thomas Nagy, agency acting as the director of human capitalAND shared with a capital star. “This notification has been canceled. The upcoming RIF will not give you influence on you.”
The employee who made available E -Mail did it provided anonymity, for fear of retaliation.
But the Union official told Capital Star between recent redemption, dismissals and an earlier retirement, it was challenging to say with certainty how many employees remained. And with so many administrative holidays it was challenging to confirm whether someone had notified the notification on Tuesday.
“We are still trying to find out what it all means and who it all includes,” said Suzanne Alison, a flight attendant at the local federation of employees of the government federation representing employees of Naosh Allegheny. “We look a bit at ourselves.”
A spokesman for the Health and Social Welfare Department did not answer detailed questions about the decision to reverse the planned cuts, but said: “The Trump administration remains involved in supporting coal miners who play an important role in the American energy sector. Undersecretary [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]”Leadership, the health supervision program of Naosh coal workers will continue to meet the needs of the miners of our nation.”
National Personal Protective Technology Lab employees have learned that their work was no longer restricted on the same day the US District Court judge in Western Virginia He awarded an order to order the safety of the NAOSH mine and respiratory health divisions of health. Return to work after previous cuts. It was the answer to Collective case conducted by West Virginia Coal Miner, Harry Wiley.
It is not clear whether there is any connection between the ruling and reversal of cuts to the respirator certification laboratory. Alison said that the ruling probably only influenced employees in the Morgantown Division Niosh, which also stood in the face of steep cuts at the beginning of this year.
Republican senator of Western Virginia, Shelley Moore Capito he said on Tuesday On the social media platform X, over 100 employees will return to work at the Morgantown facility.
However, employees of the Mining Research Department in Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, who examines the best practices of avoiding injuries and deaths in the workplace, did not receive the same notifications as in the respirator certification laboratory, said Alison.
Kennedy is to testify on Wednesday before the United States Committee, as well as the Health Committee for the Senate, Education, Work and Pension in order to discuss the proposed budget of his agency, which includes drastic cuts of staff.
There are two representatives of Pennsylvania in the House Patels panel, a republican Rescementhaler guy and a Democrat Madeleine Dean.
You enable our work.
