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Hands off our research! Hands off our healthcare! Hands off our jobs!
The message rang out loud and clear at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C., Feb. 25, where scientists, researchers and other higher education workers rallied against the cuts the Trump administration has been making to medical research.
“We’re here today because we refuse to stand by while Trump and his billionaire allies destroy the institutions that keep people alive, gut the research that saves lives, and strip workers of their jobs and their dignity,” said American Association of University Professors President Todd Wolfson, who is a professor at Rutgers University and a member of Rutgers AAUP-AFT. Speakers described lifesaving research that gives hope to cancer patients and offers the possibility of new treatments for diabetes, Alzheimer’s and other diseases that affect millions of Americans—all threatened by cuts and policies that slash crucial scientific inquiry.
“Why in God’s name would anyone try to cut that funding?” asked AFT President Randi Weingarten. “How cruel can you be?”
The rally was organized by a collective of unions that represent higher education and research workers, including the AFT, AAUP, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Communication Workers of America, the National Education Association, the Office and Professional Employees International Union, the Service Employees International Union, the United Auto Workers, the Union for Everyone, Higher Education Labor United and the Debt Collective.
It was part of a recent outpouring of protest across the country, including a Feb. 19 national day of action, when nearly a dozen cities hosted similar gatherings, and a Feb. 13 virtual organizing meeting of around 1,000 faculty from higher ed unions around the country. After the Feb. 25 event, a virtual viewing party turned to phone-banking, to hold members of Congress accountable and invite them to stand up with the scientists and researchers fighting for America’s healthcare solutions.
A dire threat to the health of the nation
Why are the people who would “rather be in the lab,” as one protest sign read, turning out in the streets to protest? Because President Donald Trump and his administration are strangling healthcare solutions by cutting funding for scientific research. Of course, researchers stand to lose their jobs, their labs and the work they have poured years of effort into, but their most adamant argument against this devastation is that their research could ultimately lead to better care and cures for all Americans.
Billions in federal research funds have been frozen. Weingarten cited several states where the loss would be especially devastating: “Alabama, a state that voted for Trump, received $386 million in NIH grants,” she said, adding that the grants there stimulate nearly a billion dollars of economic activity. Texas receives $1.85 billion, supporting almost $6 billion in economic activity.
Research grants are stalled across the nation. A 15 percent cap on “indirect costs” could gouge a hole in the resources available to university scientists. While the cap has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge, it is still possible and, if allowed to move forward, would include essentials such as utilities, administrative personnel, lab maintenance and more, with dire effects on lifesaving research and innovation. This would also be a crushing burden for university budgets that must absorb that loss or lose critical research work.
University researchers are afraid they’ll have to close labs and halt hires; graduate workers are losing key research positions. The public is losing out on advances that could mean life or death, and the United States risks losing its position as a leader in scientific healthcare research across the globe.
Annika Barber, a researcher at Rutgers University and a member of Rutgers AAUP-AFT, works on traumatic brain injury, explaining that “while science has improved survivorship ... those survivors experience a host of problems.” Her work with fruit flies could be part of the solution.
“Without the work we’re doing in our labs—in bacteria and worms and flies and squid and even Gila monsters—we would not have medical treatment for cancer or diabetes or pain,” she said. “For each pharma company that announces a new treatment, there are decades of research that you paid for, that are allowing that new treatment to come to market.”
“There’s no sugarcoating this,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), standing in freezing cold temperatures at a Feb. 19 rally outside HHS. “These cuts will kill more Americans. Taking that money will result in more Americans dying early and more Americans suffering.”
“It’s unacceptable that we have to be out here begging for money that is guaranteed,” said a neuroscientist from the George Washington University graduate workers union, referring to grants that have been stalled in progress. “What they are doing is theft.”
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler anticipates that Elon Musk and Trump will “hand over all the research that we paid for to big pharma” and other “private companies and billionaires” who will make billions on the backs of scientists and researchers. “We say, ‘no more,’” she said. “Today you’re not just taking them on, you’re taking on the entire labor movement of 15 million workers.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) called the firing of thousands of healthcare workers a “flagrant violation of civil service laws” and promised that “the people of America are going to stand up for the scientists and the health researchers. … We are going to spread these rallies all over America.”
Tools to fight back
While the threats to scientific research can be confusing, the AFT has gathered some information to help members better understand their own level of risk. This guide describes threats to NIH research funds and includes a Freedom of Information Act request guide for members to use. There is also an interactive map available from United for Medical Research that outlines the economic impact of NIH grants state by state.
On a broader scale, the AFT offers resources on other changes to the higher education landscape on our Defending Higher Education page. Click here for information on everything from Project 2025’s impact, to accreditation changes, to talking points to push back on anti-diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“Your fight is our fight,” said Weingarten and Wolfson in a joint letter to members. “We want you to know that we will fight for you, for our students, for our communities and for higher education. And in turn, we need you to fight with us. Together, the AAUP and the AFT are more than 400,000 strong in higher education, with members in every state. We are teachers, researchers, college staff, graduate workers, postdocs, librarians, engaged community members, parents and students. We are committed to higher education for the common good, and, together, we can build a better future.”
[Virginia Myers]