by Christian Hauser, WKRC

Wed, April 2nd 2025 at 9:35 PM

It’s part of cost-cutting moves by the Trump administration. The move is part of an effort to cut 20,000 Health and Human Services (HHS) workers. (WKRC)

CINCINNATI (WKRC) – Hundreds of local federal workers learned they are out of a job or being laid off in just under three months.

It’s part of cost-cutting moves by the Trump administration. The move is part of an effort to cut 20,000 Health and Human Services (HHS) workers.

Locally, the positions are part of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). NIOSH focuses on workplace safety.

The restructuring also involves centralizing functions like communications and procurement, which the union argues could weaken the specialized expertise of agencies like the CDC, FDA, and NIH. The union is urging Congress to intervene, emphasizing the need to strengthen the HHS workforce to address national health challenges.

“The fact that they’re targeting NIOSH, I think, shows that they’re really targeting workers. This is an attack on my union and an attack on federal employees, but it’s also an attack on the American working people. NIOSH was created with the OSHA Act of 1970. That’s a right that workers won in the 70s, and they’re trying to take that away by completely defunding NIOSH,” Micah Niemeier-Walsh, American Federation of Government Employees Local 3840 Vice President said.