CHARLESTON – Labor representatives advocating for more than 23,000 West Virginians who are federal employees and facing devastating job losses will be at the state Capitol Thursday to help bring awareness to members of the Legislature and others in state government. They will hold a press conference about the effect on these employees at 12:30 p.m. Thursday in front of the House of Delegates chamber.

“Just this week was another wave in a sea of cruel and irresponsible announcements coming from Washington, this time the loss of around 200 West Virginia jobs at the Morgantown NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) location as part of 10,000 job cuts within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,” noted Dan Doyle, AFGE Local 1995 Vice President and WV AFL-CIO Vice President. “These are the people who serve our state veterans and seniors, protect our coal miners, guard our federal prisons, carry out critical medical research, assist West Virginia farmers and small business owners, and conduct disaster relief missions. These folks are absolutely not expendable.”

Among the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and other union representatives speaking at the press conference will be employees and others impacted by the cuts to the U.S. Veterans Administration, the Bureau of Prisons, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NIOSH, MSHA and the Social Security Administration.

Doyle noted there are federal agencies throughout West Virginia, including six federal prison facilities in Alderson, Beckley, Glenville, Hazelton, Welch, and Morgantown Veterans Affairs hospitals in Beckley, Huntington, Clarksburg and Martinsburg; at least four Mine Safety and Health Administration locations; and a host of federal offices in Charleston, Parkersburg, Clarksburg, Martinsburg, Wheeling, Beckley, Romney, and Ripley, among others.

The following are a few of the facts to consider:

* With about 23,000 federal employees in West Virginia, the federal government is an even larger employer in the state than the coal industry

* In particular worth noting on Girls/Women’s Day at the Legislature, which also is Thursday -- About 47 percent of those workers are women, a larger percentage than in the entire state workforce.

* Nationwide, about 30 percent of federal employees are veterans, and that percentage is likely larger in West Virginia, where military service per capita is among the highest.

“These people are pillars of countless West Virginia communities, who pay taxes, send their children to school and shop locally,” Doyle said. “The losses they are experiencing will have a ripple effect in each of their local economies, and West Virginia as a whole will surely suffer.”

• WHAT                                   Press Conference discussing drastic and punitive actions against federal employees in WV
• WHEN                                  12:30 p.m., Thursday, April 3, 2025
• WHERE                                In front of the House of Delegates Chamber, located on the east side of the state Capitol, 1st floor