On April 1, our nation’s occupational health workforce was gutted when 92% of employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health received reduction-in-force termination letters from the Trump administration.
As public health faculty at the University of Illinois Chicago, we know this means more workers will get sick and injured on the job. More will die from preventable deaths.
Most people have never heard of NIOSH — when public health is working well, it’s invisible. Occupational health is no different.
NIOSH is a federal agency in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that studies and implements solutions that prevent work-related illness and injury and promote health and well-being to ensure a reliable workforce. Its research underpins the regulations that keep American workers safe.
NIOSH also funds graduate programs that train industrial hygiene and occupational safety specialists and occupational nurse and physician specialists who are vital to keeping workers safe.
At UIC, we lead three NIOSH-funded centers of excellence — the Great Lakes Center for Occupational Health and Safety, the Center for Healthy Work and the Great Lakes Center for Farmworker Health and Wellbeing. These programs support local jobs, train students and bring millions of dollars of research to Illinois. These programs will be lost with federal cuts to NIOSH.
Most of us will work for the majority of our lives. The workplace hazards we face will affect our lives, our families and our communities through chronic illness, loss of income, increased health care costs, disability and economic instability. A relatively small investment in NIOSH results in huge gains for the U.S. workforce.
Collective pressure on elected officials and lawsuits filed by workers and unions have made headway in reversing cuts. But this is insufficient.
We urge Congress and the White House to reinstate full funding for NIOSH, including funding for university training and research programs. We ask everyone to keep pressuring your elected representatives and demand full funding for NIOSH be restored.
Kirsten Almberg, PhD,
Susan Buchanan, MD, and
Linda Forst, MD, faculty, Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Illinois Chicago
SEND LETTERS TO: letters@suntimes.com. To be considered for publication, letters must include your full name, your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes. Letters should be a maximum of approximately 375 words.
Modern technology’s drawbacks
In addition to doing heroic journalism (hurrah for the unsung citizen), Mariah Rush’s recent story in the Sun-Times about the struggles of the American Science & Surplus store in Park Ridge exposes a harsh truth: The “convenience” of Amazon is conveniently destroying small business all over the country.
Some would argue entrepreneurship is part of the American DNA. There are certainly millions of inspiring examples everywhere. But another sad truth is modern society’s over-reliance on technology is slowly peeling away our humanity, not just our business successes.
I just returned from a trip to Nashville. What immediately hit me is the city has decided parking lots and parking meters must now be paid via an “app” on one’s cellphone.
As you can guess, there were plenty of tourists who either did not have their phones with them, or, even worse, the pay-to-park apps on their phones didn’t work. That meant walking six or seven long blocks to find the lone parking space that accepted cash or credit cards. Many tourists I saw were older and people with disabilities. Did no one consider their needs?
Speaking of credit cards: Ryman Auditorium, the “Mother Church” of country music, appeared to be mostly cashless — that is, you must mostly pay with a credit card. Aren’t the majority of Americans in credit card debt? Yes. So how does forcing tourists to use even more credit purchases solve this crisis?
It was the same when I returned home from Nashville to escort two friends visiting Chicago from Germany. At the Metra’s Ogilvie Transportation Center, there are no longer live human beings at kiosks to assist confused tourists. Instead, you guessed it, there are only credit card machines.
The absence of human warmth was palpable. We relied on our cellphones to figure out what trains to take. But what if our phones hadn’t worked?
Support local businesses. Refuse to patronize cashless ones. And never lose sight of the fact human contact is essential to life itself.
Bill Dal Cerro, Edison Park
Outdoor mall has gone to the dogs
When did Skokie’s Old Orchard shopping mall become a dog park? A few days ago, I went shopping there with my grandchildren, and dogs were everywhere.
One dog pooped in one of the stores. Dogs were in the dressing rooms. I was standing in line to purchase an item, and a huge dog was next to me. It didn’t look very friendly.
Are these people really shopping, or are they just walking their dogs? Why can’t people walk their dogs in the park and stay out of the stores? This is another reason for shopping at Amazon.
Diane Blaszczyk, Old Norwood Park
Right-leaning media not hard to find
I got a good laugh reading the recent letter to the editor from Mr. Tony LaMantia, complaining about what he perceives as a left-wing bias in the Sun-Times. But I would like to offer a solution to his dilemma.
He should subscribe to the Chicago Tribune. This would allow him to receive a daily dose of the pro-Republican propaganda that he so desperately craves.
Steven Herr, West Ridge