Hundreds of laid-off researchers at US workplace safety center are being reinstated
Federal officials are reinstating hundreds of U.S. health workers who were laid off last year from a small health agency that aims to protect workers. Last April, President Donald Trump’s administration gutted the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Agency scientists, engineers and others conduct research and recommend ways to prevent work-related injury, illness, disability and death. Government officials laid off close to 900 of the agency’s 1,000 employees. Some employees were brought back last year after legal challenges and political pressure. Union officials say all of the terminations are being rescinded. A U.S. Health Department spokesman Wednesday said Trump’s Republican administration is “committed to protecting essential services.”